Station Upgrades Focus of
$530 Million Brown Line Overhaul

by Sheila Bacon

The Chicago Transit Authority's five-year Brown Line capacity expansion project, a massive undertaking in which 18 of the line's 19 stations are facing some sort of construction work, is more than half complete.

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The $529.9 million job broke ground in fall 2004 and has a completion date of Dec. 31, 2009.

The expansion project's focus is new station construction and renovations, although the contracts also include minor track realignment and substation upgrades. Work ranges from platform extensions that are performed while the stations remain open and operational to construction of completely new station houses that requires closures for 12 months at a time.

The 9.1-mi-long, above-ground rail line serves the businesses and neighborhoods of Chicago's North and Northwest side. Starting with Kimball station to the north, it ends at the Merchandise Mart station in downtown Chicago, where it connects with the Chicago Loop. The line serves more than 66,000 customers each weekday.

Ridership has increased approximately 83 percent since 1979 and 27 percent since 1998, and that's the highest rate of growth anywhere in CTA's rail transportation system.

The neighborhoods along the Brown Line have grown over the years with new residents and businesses, says Sheila Gregory, general manager of public affairs for the CTA. This growth has lead to increased ridership and demand for service along the route. The goal of the expansion project is to alleviate crowding, increase ridership capacity, improve passenger flow and make each station Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

Construction Contracts

The station work is divided into five separate construction packages shared by two Chicago contractors-F.H. Paschen and James McHugh Construction. While the majority of the work involves station upgrades, some trackwork is involved at a handful of locations.

The largest package of work-a $94.3 million contract-includes renovated stations and new trackwork at the Belmont and Fullerton stations. Both stations are remaining open during the work, with only temporary closures.
FHP crews are currently erecting steel to rebuild tracks at both stations, says Matt Moss, FHP project manager. Work includes new caisson foundations, cast-in-place concrete columns, new steel structure, a cast-in-place concrete deck and a cast-in-place concrete platform. Work is phased so that the existing track can be used while the new track is being built, Moss adds.

Crews are installing a new direct fixation track system at both stations in which trackwork is cast into the concrete deck instead of placed on an open-tie elevated structure, Moss says.

Temporary stations have been built and are currently in service. Renovation work at the existing stations will begin after trackwork is complete in late 2008, Moss says.

Longer-term closures have been necessary at Kimball, Kedzie, Francisco and Rockwell stations-four of the five stations (Western is the fifth) included in FHP's $19.9 million contract. Kedzie and Rockwell stations opened in August after six-month closures, and Kimball opening in January. Francisco was the latest to reopen in March.

Work at Kedzie, Francisco and Rockwell has included demolition of existing platforms and their foundations and the installation of new precast concrete foundations to support the new platforms. New station houses were built at Kedzie and Rockwell, and Francisco's historic station house was taken offsite, restored and reinstalled.

Substantial completion of the five-station work package is expected in August.
Work at Chicago, Armitage and Sedgwick stations-a $45.5 million contract also being performed by FHP-is halfway complete. The bulk of the work includes installing new foundations for the new platform decking. Armitage and Sedgwick will also require limited trackwork and tie replacement. The stations remain open, with only temporary weekend closures.

About $58 million in upgrades are planned for Irving Park, Damen, Addison and Montrose stations, which will face temporary closures. The Addison and Montrose stations closed on in December and will remain closed for 12 months. McHugh is the general contractor.

Work at Addison and Montrose is in the substructure phase, says Mike Gould, McHugh's vice president of heavy/highway and infrastructure. Crews are excavating, removing and replacing the existing spread footings that support the elevated structure and placing new footings for the new station houses.

The new stations will include revamped entries and exits to accommodate the extended platforms, and stairways and elevators will be reworked to comply with ADA requirements, Gould says.

Once Addison and Montrose are complete in late 2007, Irving Park and Damen will close for one year and similar work will begin.

Preliminary survey and utility relocation work is currently under way at Wellington, Diversey, Paulina and Southport stations. Southport closed in April and will remain closed for one year. Diversey will follow suit this spring. The $66.9 million contact will include reconstruction of all four stations. Work is being performed by FHP.

Bigger Trains, Bigger Platforms

The majority of the station reconstruction work is being done to accommodate eight-car trains, says the CTA's Gregory. Before the renovation work began, only six-car trains could berth at the platforms at 16 of the 19 Brown Line stations. Throughout the rest of the CTA's rail system, station platforms are long enough to accommodate the longer trains.

Platforms at all the stations under construction will be extended approximately 100 ft. to allow a one-third increase in berthing capacity over the current six-car service. In addition to extending the platforms, stations are being made accessible to passengers with disabilities with the addition of either elevators or ramps and wheelchair accessible turnstiles.

Other station improvements include wider stairways, additional turnstiles and improved entrances and exits to allow for better customer flow. Security cameras and brighter lights are also being installed at the stations, along with upgraded public address systems.

The designs of the new and renovated Brown Line stations were shaped by the involvement of area residents and business owners, who had been participating in community meetings regarding the project since 2001, Gregory says. Seven teams completed designs for stations, substations and signal and communications components of the project.

"These designers worked together to identify common solutions for lighting, canopy designs, various standard details, material and finishes," Gregory says.

"This was an innovative idea that was necessary to achieve CTA's goal of providing common design elements to all of the stations."

Accommodating All

Work has been scheduled so that no two adjacent stations (located no farther than half a mile from the next station) are temporarily closed at the same time on weekdays, Gregory says. Passengers are also encouraged to use other CTA rail lines as well as bus service during the station closures.

Contractors are also doing their part to make sure passengers remain safe during construction. Crews are working off-hours, redirecting passengers to temporary stations and isolating pathways to existing stairways and walkways from the active worksite, FHP's Moss says.

Accommodating nearby businesses during the construction work has been a problem in many places because entrances to shops and restaurants are immediately beneath the suspended structure or in the path of new construction, Gould says.

"In some places, you can't go 20 ft without being in front of someone's door or loading dock," he adds.

Contractors take part in neighborhood task force meetings and keep neighbors updated on construction activities well in advance of work being performed, Gould says. Crews have been able to accelerate certain activities and rework schedules in order to accommodate delivery schedules and business hours of those nearby.

Additional work includes upgrades to the Brown Line's signal system and renovations at Clark Junction. Signals are being upgraded from Kimball to Western, which involves installing signal equipment along the tracks; installing six new crossing gates and circuitry where the Brown Line crosses at street level at Spaulding, Kedzie, Albany, Sacramento, Francisco and Rockwell; and rehabilitating Kimball Tower where signals control switches and direct trains.

At Clark Junction-the location where Brown, Purple and Red Line tracks merge just north of the Belmont station-work has been completed to install a new signal system from Armitage to Addison, provide signals for 14 rail crossovers and rehabilitate Clark Tower.

The Brown Line project also includes substation upgrades and in some cases replacement. A new substation is being installed on Grace Street, and the Clark Street substation is being rehabilitated. Crews are also installing AC power supplies, supervisory control, DC switchgear, indoor and outdoor lighting, security and communications equipment at both facilities. Work began on Jan. 10, 2005, and is expected to be completed late this year.

The CTA will solicit bids for upgrades and replacements of the Brown Line's communication equipment later this year.

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