EDGEWATER — United States Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced Thursday that $35 million was awarded to the Chicago Transportation Authority to help rebuild four North Side Red Line stations, modernize the northern strentches of the Red and Purple lines and construct a track flyover at Belmont Station.
"This is a really big deal," Foxx said at a press conference in Edgewater.
The CTA expects to be awarded as much as $700 million in additional federal funding for the $1.7 billion project.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) said Thursday at a press conference that the initial $35 million was a "down payment" on the future funding.
"The grant will allow us to get started," she said.
Work to completely rebuild Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stations could begin as soon as 2017.
The $320 million Belmont flyover would allow northbound Brown Line trains to pass over the top of the existing tracks where the three train lines meet. The current configuration of tracks requires trains on three of four tracks to stop and wait for Brown Line trains to cross, which results in more than 40 percent of weekday trains being delayed by as much as three minutes, officials said.
The flyover would allow for a 30 percent increase in service, adding an additional six to nine trains an hour during rush periods.
Chicago was the first city to be awarded money through the Federal Transportation Administration's Core Capacity program, which was set up by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) to provide funding to cities that were upgrading existing rail lines.
"Many other cities are taking Chicago's lead," Foxx said.
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