CTA’s new Brown Line flyover near Belmont to open to the public
The CTA’s new flyover near the Belmont train station is set to open to customers Friday, marking the completion of the first piece of a major Red and Purple line modernization project.
The Red-Purple bypass will carry northbound Brown Line trains over the Red and Purple line tracks just north of the busy Belmont station in Lakeview. It replaces a 114-year-old rail junction that CTA described as “a chokepoint for service across the CTA rail system.”
Construction of the flyover required tearing down nearby buildings and sliding the 127-year-old Vautravers Building 30 feet to the west to spare the historic, three-story six-flat from demolition.
The flyover, which will go into service at 4 a.m., is intended to allow the CTA to run more trains along the busy Red Line and unsnarl train traffic at the former junction, CTA said. The agency said it is the first new piece of permanent mainline track added to the CTA system since the Orange Line opened in 1993.
The flyover is the first completed piece of the $2.1 billion Red- and Purple-line modernization project. Next up is the demolition, rebuilding and realignment of the more-than-century-old Red and Purple line tracks between the Belmont station and West Cornelia Avenue to the north, intended to straighten a curve in the tracks and allow more trains running at faster speeds.
Work is expected to begin in early 2022, and last through 2024, CTA said.
Work is also underway farther north on the Red Line, where the CTA has closed and is rebuilding the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stations, along with new tracks, support structure, bridges and viaducts. Temporary stations are in use at the Argyle and Bryn Mawr stops during the construction, which includes making the new stations fully accessible to passengers with disabilities, adding elevators and wider platforms, and improving amenities.
The four stations are expected to reopen near the end of 2024, and the entire project, including installation of new signals, is expected to be complete by 2025.
