Today, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) a temporary restraining order (TRO), ruling that the suspension of federal funding for the Red Line Extension (RLE) and Red & Public Modernization (RPM) projects was impermissible. CTA filed a lawsuit last Friday against U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration to end the funding pause and restore CTA’s access to federal funding for both projects.
The prolonged payment pause, which began last October, has threatened continued progress on RLE and RPM. Without court intervention, CTA would have been forced to stop work on both projects this Friday.
"Today, the CTA secured a major victory for the Red Line Extension and the residents of Chicago’s Far South Side. CTA promised the community that it would fight for RLE, and this ruling is a massive step toward restoration of funding for this historic project. RLE will provide transit access and opportunity for generations to come, and we are fully committed to seeing it move forward," said CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen.
Unless the federal government obtains a stay on the TRO, the ruling calls for payments to resume by Friday, March 27, at 10 a.m.
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