“Today the Mighty CTA comes rolling into the 21st century,” said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin who was at the groundbreaking.

 
The modernization project will help unclog a major CTA bottleneck between Belmont and Linden. With almost 150,000 riders travel through the Belmont intersection every weekday, Mayor Lightfoot says the project is imperative to ease congestion.

“This bypass will carry northbound Brown line trains up and over the Red and Purple tracks, eliminating the need for trains to stop and wait,” said Mayor Lightfoot.

Right now, Red and Purple line trains have to wait for the Kimball Brown line trains to cross over the tracks. That limits how many trains can get through, especially during rush hours. 

Key features of the RPB Project include the ability to accommodate 30% more riders per hour during rush hour periods on the Red, Purple and Brown lines. It’ll do that by allowing an additional eight trains per line during rush hour. Train speeds are also expected to increase by 60% through the Belmont intersection. 

This will be tackled during the first phase of the more than $2 billion project, which is partially funded by Washington. 

Reconstruction will also take place at the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr Red line stations. New signal systems are set to be installed from Howard to Belmont. 

With all this work that needs to be done, the CTA added new 1,400 jobs to ensure it gets done in a timely manner.

“This project is not just about rebuilding this section of Track,” says CTA President Dorval Carter, “it’s about creating opportunities all throughout the city.”

Construction isn’t expected to be done on the bypass until Summer 2021. Phase 1 isn’t expected to be done until 2025.