Red Line Extension
| Location | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Proposer | Chicago Transit Authority |
| Project website | www |
| Status | Under construction |
| Type | Rail rapid transit |
| Cost estimate | $5.7 billion |
| Start date | April 24, 2026 |
| Completion date | 2030 |
| Stakeholders |
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| Geometry | 5.6 miles (9.0 km) long |
| Footnotes / references | |
The Red Line Extension (RLE) Project is an under-construction rapid transit project that is extending the Red Line, the most heavily-used Chicago "L" line, south from its current 95th/Dan Ryan terminus to the future 130th station. The project is being coordinated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) as part of the Red Ahead program and is taking place in the Roseland, Washington Heights, West Pullman, and Riverdale community areas on the Far South Side of Chicago.
The extension project was conceived in 1958 as part of a then-proposed rapid transit line along the median of today's Dan Ryan Expressway, Interstate 57 (I-57), and the Bishop Ford Freeway (formerly the Calumet Expressway). However, only the section north of 95th Street along the Dan Ryan Expressway—the Dan Ryan branch—entered service in 1969. After that branch opened, there were various proposals to continue the line past 95th.
The passage of SAFETEA-LU, a transportation infrastructure funding bill, by the U.S. Congress in 2005 allowed federal funding from the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) New Starts program to be earmarked for public transit projects like the Red Line Extension. The CTA finalized the alignment of the extension in 2018 along the rights-of-way of I-57, a Union Pacific Railroad line, and the South Shore Line.
The extension is 5.6 miles (9.0 km) long and is expected to cost $5.7 billion. Construction began in 2026 and is expected to conclude in 2030.