On Friday, March 20, the newly renovated Howard Red Line auxiliary station entrance at 1649 West Howard will reopen – marking the completion of CTA’s Red Line Howard rehabilitation project.
Last June, CTA opened a new station house at the south end of Paulina Street, which provides a convenient, accessible path between the station platforms and the multi-story parking garage and bus terminal on the west side of the station. The station remained open for service throughout construction.
The overall renovation project included: renovating the stationhouse and platform areas, installation of four elevators, escalators, brighter lighting, benches, new wind breaks and canopies to protect customers during inclement weather and bike racks.
The construction project also called for the rehabilitation of the existing Howard Street viaduct and the retail space on the north side of Howard Street.
Original artwork will be installed at the Howard station. A suspended stainless steel sculpture titled “24/7” was designed by Carla Arocha and Stephane Schraenen for the main entrance on Paulina. Amy Cheng created a ceramic tile mural titled “Destination: Points Unknown” which will be positioned on the rear wall of the entrance on Howard.
Howard station serves as a free transfer point between the CTA Red, Yellow and Purple lines for more than 13,000 customers on an average weekday. In addition, seven CTA bus routes and two Pace bus routes also serve the Howard station.
Rail ridership at the Howard station is 5,982 on an average weekday; 4,228 rides on an average Saturday and 3,063 rides on an average Sunday. In 2008, ridership for the year at the station was 1,929,004. The Red Line totaled approximately 66 million rides in 2008.
The Howard station was originally built in 1908 and rebuilt in the 1920s.
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