The Chicago Transit Authority Board has approved a 38.3 million contract to study the proposed extension of the Red Line south to 130th Street.
“This contract award is a major step towards our goal and will move us closer to the federal funding we will need to build the Red Line Extension,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter Jr. said in a statement.
The money will help create an environmental impact statement, which is a necessary step in getting federal funding for the project, which would total about $2.3 billion, according to CTA officials. The $38.3 million contract, awarded to infrastructure services firm T. Y. Lin International Great Lakes, also covers planning and preliminary engineering services, the CTA said.
Currently the Red Line, the busiest in the CTA system, extends only as far as 95th, well short of the city’s southern border.
