Durbin, Duckworth Quigley Announce The CTA Red Line Extension Project Is Receiving $746 Million In Federal Funding In The First Year
CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL-05) announced that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will now provide the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Red Line Extension (RLE) Project with $746 million in the first year—an additional $396 million—as opposed to the $350 million originally planned. These increased first-year funds will expedite the rate at which federal funding is disbursed to CTA over the course of the project.
“Today’s welcome news brings over $300 million in expedited federal funds for the Red Line Extension Project in the first year, thanks to the historic commitment from FTA,” said Durbin. “This long-awaited extension will bring relief to thousands of residents on the South Side of Chicago. This is the tangible impact of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and a testament to our commitment to improving transit across Illinois.”
“No matter their zip code, Chicagoans deserve easier access to public transit to get to school, get to work and more easily move throughout the city,” Duckworth said. “I commend the Biden-Harris Administration for their continued support of this vital project for Chicago’s South Side, and I’m proud to see increased federal support for this project. I’ll keep working with Senator Durbin and Congressman Quigley to do all that we can to help improve transit development and access for all Chicagoans.”
“Public transit is a lifeline to daily life for many Chicagoans. The Red Line Extension project is a major step in building a more equitable transit system for our city, ensuring the benefits of public transit can be utilized by communities that have historically lacked access. Today’s funding announcement will ensure CTA can lock in contracts now, allowing the project to move forward sooner and saving hundreds of millions of dollars in project costs,” said Quigley.
Last year, Durbin and Quigley joined U.S. Representatives Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) as well as then FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez to announce that the RLE project has entered the engineering phase of FTA’s Capital Investment Grants program, with a $1.947 billion federal funding commitment from the FTA, which is roughly 50 percent of the project’s cost and one of the largest New Starts awards in the history of the program.
Durbin and Duckworth led members of the Illinois delegation in a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) urging them to provide the City of Chicago’s RLE project with the maximum 60 percent federal cost share for which it is eligible under the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant program.
The 5.6-mile extension of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line to Chicago’s southern border is the first rail transit extension in Chicago in 30 years. It will serve roughly 100,000 people, most of whom are from low-income households on Chicago’s South Side, and will benefit tens of thousands of working families and individuals in surrounding suburbs and communities. The project will also provide an economic boost, making an estimated 25,000 additional jobs accessible to South Side residents within a 45-minute commute in the coming years, and generating $4.4 billion in economic activity in the County during the construction phase. The City of Chicago also has targeted areas near future RLE stations for significant local investment.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which Durbin, Duckworth, and members of the Chicago-area delegation supported, designated $89.9 billion in transit funding, and Illinois will receive the fourth-highest amount in direct transit funding at $4.1 billion.
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