THE LOOP — A new "L" stop is coming to State and Lake streets, replacing the 122-year-old station that overlooks the Chicago Theatre.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday that city officials have secured a nearly $57 million federal grant to build a new elevated train station in the heart of the Loop.
The new station will replace the State and Lake "L" stop built in 1895, when Grover Cleveland was president.
“The CTA hub at State and Lake is an iconic location in the heart of Chicago, and it deserves a state-of-the-art station,” Emanuel said. “This project has been talked about for more than a decade, and now we are moving forward on plans to rebuild this station and ensure a modern and reliable transit system for Chicago’s residents.”
More than 3.1 million riders used the "L" stop last year, making it the second-busiest in the city, Emanuel said. (The Red Line subway station at Lake Street is the busiest).
The new station, which has not been designed, will be "fully accessible" to people with disabilities and have wider platforms than the existing station, Emanuel said.
The federal grant is in addition to $5.5 million in existing design funding, Emanuel said. The new grant will not cover the full cost of construction, and Emanuel said he plans to seek more federal funding for the new stop's construction.
The announcement comes about a month after City Hall opened a new "L" stop nearby at Washington and Wabash. The city also plans a new Green Line station at Damen and Lake streets on the Near West Side.
Emanuel said the city will solicit bids from architecture firms by the end of the year. There is no timeline for the new stop's construction.
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