Jacobs, Arcadis and Ardmore-Roderick were awarded a six-year contract by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) for professional owner's representative services for the Red and Purple Modernization Program (RPM) Phase One project.

A CTA train at an elevated station in Chicago's Loop. Source: CTAPhase One of RPM is the largest capital improvement project in CTA's history. The entire program, expected to be completed over multiple phases, is intended to deliver faster and smoother rides with less crowding and more frequent service.

The multi-stage project will completely rebuild the Red Line from Belmont to Howard and the Purple Line from Belmont to Linden in Wilmette. Both projects are part of a series of projects to improve the 22-mile Red Line, the CTA’s busiest line, which carries more than 30% of rail riders.

(Click to enlarge.) Map showing location of the CTA's Red and Purple transit lines. Source: CTAThe scope of work for the three partners includes providing design and construction management, field support and project controls services, safety and security certification oversight, quality assurance, and construction closeout services. CTA estimates the project value at $2.1 billion. Major project construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2019.

In December, CTA approved a $1.2 billion contract to the Walsh-Fluor Design Build Team, which will engineer, design and build Phase One of the Red and Purple line modernization. The team will be responsible for building new Red and Purple line track infrastructure, including:

• Reconstructing the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr Red Line stations into larger, fully accessible stations and track structures, totaling six miles that is nearly a century old.
• Building a rail bypass north of Belmont station that will improve service reliability on the Red, Purple and Brown lines, increasing train speeds, easing overcrowding on rail cars and providing capacity for projected future growth.
• Installing a new signal system on 23 miles of track between Howard and Belmont that is intended to improve CTA train flow and increase service reliability.

The bypass north of the transit system's Belmont station will allow northbound trains on the system's Brown Line to cross up and over the Red and Purple line tracks. The bypass is intended to eliminate a major bottleneck in CTA's rail infrastructure.