The CTA today said it is planning to rebuild four North Side Red Line stations from Lawrence to Bryn Mawr.
Work on the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stops and accompanying track would begin in 2017 at the earliest, the CTA said. The CTA still needs to get funding for this project, which is estimated to cost $1.13 billion. The CTA said is seeking federal funds.
CTA spokesman Brian Steele said it is has not been determined whether the CTA will completely shut down that portion of the Red Line stop during construction, like it did to rebuild the southern portion of the Red Line last year, or whether stops will be shut down on a rolling basis, like the CTA is doing on the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line.
Steele said he didn't know if the current infrastructure of the stations will be torn down. Elevators will be added to the stops, which are not currently accessible to riders with disabilities. The four stops were built in the early 1900s.
The CTA closed seven North Side Red Line stations, including Lawrence, Argyle and Berwyn, on a rolling basis for six weeks in 2012 in a $86 million station maintenance project.
The CTA already plans to rebuild the Wilson stop and make it a transfer point to the Purple Line Express in a $203 million project expected to begin this year.
The station project unveiled today would be the first phase of the Red-Purple Line Modernization Program that focuses on renewing Red and Purple Line stations and track north of the Belmont stop. That program is estimated to cost between $2 billion and $4 billion.
