Ever since the Nixon era, Far South Siders have been asking for the Red Line, which currently stops at 95th Street, to be extended south to the city limits. They got some good news yesterday, as the CTA passed a milestone for winning roughly $1 billion in federal funding needed for the $2.3 billion project. But in a somewhat frustrating development, the earliest potential start date for train service on the route, originally slated for 2026, has been postponed until 2029.
As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times’ Stefano Esposito, the CTA announced on Monday that the Federal Transit Administration has granted preliminary approval for the 5.6-mile addition, which will go as far south as 130th Street, serving the Altgeld Gardens housing project. However, the transit agency also shared the bad news of the three-year service launch delay, explaining that the 2026 start date was a “preliminary” estimate based on “limited information.” The CTA needs to finalize the project’s environmental impact statement and create preliminary engineering documents within the next two years.