The newly renovated south entrance to the Howard Red Line station will open to customers Monday morning. Improvements to the new entrance include the installation of elevators, making the station newly accessible to customers with disabilities. With the opening of the south entrance, 83 of CTA's 144 rail stations are now accessible. Renovations to the south entrance are a part of the overall construction project currently underway at the Howard station which is scheduled to be completed in 2009.
The new south entrance 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 Howard station serves as a free transfer point between the CTA Red, Yellow and Purple Lines. The station serves as an entry point for 6,010 rides on an average weekday, 4,006 rides on an average Saturday and 3,027 rides on an average Sunday. In 2007, ridership for the year at the station was 1,903,038. The Red Line is the busiest rail line in the CTA rail system, totaling approximately 64 million rides in 2007.
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