Red Line Extension receives $100 million grant

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has announced that the Red Line Extension Project, which will build a 5.6-mile extension of the Red Line to 130th Street, will receive another $100 million of federal funding, moving the project closer to the CTA’s goal of breaking ground in 2025.

The project will receive a $100 million grant from the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ)/Carbon Reduction Program, after receiving $30 million from the same source in 2021. The announcement follows the recent notification from the Federal Transit Administration in September 2023 that the RLE project was in line to receive $1.973 billion of federal “New Starts” funding.

“CTA is successfully putting together the critical funding we need to build the transformational Red Line Extension, which will increase access to transit for Far South Side residents and serve as an economic catalyst for the region,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “The Red Line Extension will improve residents’ quality of life by increasing access to jobs, education and more. I thank our federal partners for the continuing support of this life-changing project.”

Originally promised by then Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1969, the Red Line Extension will look to extend the CTA Red Line past 95th St all the way down to the city’s southern border near 130th St. With work underway on the design, the $3.6 billion project will add another 5.6 miles of heavy rail and connect the Far South Side communities with 4 new stations. The Red Line will begin stopping at 103rd and Eggleston, 111th and Eggleston, Michigan Ave near 116th, and 130th St near Altgeld Gardens. The project also includes a train storage yard and maintenance shop facility, located along the new tracks near 120th St. 

The remaining project funding will come from a $950 million Transit TIF approved by Chicago City Council in 2022 and other sources. The CTA is looking to award construction contracts in late 2024 and begin construction in 2025. The new Red Line Extension is targeted for a 2029 completion.