CTA, city of Chicago open new Belmont Transit Center

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held March 29 to make the completion of the Belmont Blue Gateway project, which is part of the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) $492-million Your New Blue program to modernize and improve the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line. 

The Belmont Blue Gateway project is the largest project to date to completed as part of the Your New Blue program and the modernization of the station represents the first major renovation to the facility since it opened nearly 50 years ago. The Belmont Transit Center serves nearly 1.8 million entries to the Blue Line and provides connections to heavily traveled bus routes. 

One of the most eye-catching elements of the $17 million project is the new architectural steel canopy, which was designed by the Chicago architecture firm Carol Ross Barney. CTA notes that the canopy creates a community gateway for the station and local neighborhood, while also visually enhancing the street-level entrance to the subway station.

• In addition to the canopy, ther project improvements include: 

• Safer and modernized bus arrival and departure area– featuring new LED lighting, additional overhead heaters, repaved surface and new signage 

• Permanent prepaid boarding area

• Enhanced communications systems, including new Bus and Train Tracker signs, and an upgraded public announcement (PA) system throughout

• New LED lighting and repainted surfaces throughout the rail station

• New concrete platform decking

“Improving Chicago’s infrastructure is critical to keep our city moving and growing,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “As we continue to modernize our transit system to serve a world-class city for the 21st century, the CTA’s Belmont Blue Gateway Project has not only created another showcase station for residents, but also helped create good-paying jobs to ensure our future is even brighter than our past.” 

CTA noted that it worked with its contractor on the Belmont project to promote a diverse and inclusive workforce. CTA says it exceeded project goals, attaining a 33.4 percent Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) rate by hiring 15 DBE subcontractors. This project also created more than 200 jobs, with more than 89 of them being direct, on-site opportunities.

“This project, like the dozens of others completed by CTA under Mayor Emanuel, is more than just an investment in transit, it’s also an investment in the surrounding community,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “This one investment has created new jobs and business opportunities, while also providing residents and visitors with a safer, modern, more efficient travel environment with a one-of-a-kind experience that is only available here in the Avondale community.”

Belmont is the ninth of 14 stations to be renewed under the Your New Blue program, and follows a number of other projects that are either completed or underway, including track and signal system improvements to increase service reliability for customers. Your New Blue is the largest investment in the Blue Line since it was extended to O’Hare International Airport 30 years ago and is part of more than $8 billion of transit investment begun under Mayor Emanuel since 2011.