Advance utility and structural location work has begun for a $440-million project to rebuild the 1895-era State/Lake elevated station, one of Chicago’s busiest stations on the Loop “L” line, and two blocks away from the James R. Thompson Center, which is being redeveloped as a Google headquarters.
Design and construction of the station, considered by city officials as a gateway to the Loop, is being led by Chicago Dept. of Transportation (CDOT) on behalf of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The project was designed by the team of TranSystems/Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). The contractor is F.H. Paschen.
The rebuild will feature a glass canopy protecting commuters from wind and rain, four ADA-compliant elevators, two escalators, wider platforms, larger entries and exits and public balconies offering views of State Street and the Chicago Theatre.
The new elevators will be installed at street level, and additional elevators will connect the mezzanine to the underground Red Line platform, the CTA notes.
The CTA has a separate plan to extend the Red Line from the existing terminal at 95th/Dan Ryan to 130th Street. Construction of the 5.5-mile extension is expected to start in 2026 and will include four new fully accessible stations near 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue and 130th Street.
Overall, the work at the State/Lake station will include phased demolition of the existing station, foundation work including micropiles, drilled shafts and excavation, construction of an eight-car platform with a fare collection area, a flyover bridge, elevators, and escalators, installation of mechanical, plumbing, electrical, lighting, communication and fare collection systems, utility relocation, pavement reconstruction, and streetscape improvements, track and signal modifications and renovation of the Lake/Randolph Red Line subway mezzanine and platform to include new elevators.
Utility work began in August and is expected to last three to four months. It is focused primarily on potholing operations, which involves excavating small, precise holes to locate and verify the position of underground utilities, structures and unknown objects. The majority of the other work in the current phase includes excavation, mechanical drilling and boring, and vacuum excavating to non-invasively locate the underground items.
The cost of the project has increased since it was first proposed for $180 million in 2021. In 2024, the CTA approved an agreement with JRTC Holdings—a subsidiary of Google that is converting the formerly state-owned, nearby James R. Thompson Center into the tech giant’s Chicago offices—to relocate the station’s main entrance from Lake Street, under the elevated tracks, to the northeast corner on Clark Street, where it will be more prominent and easier to see.
Google is paying for the re-designed entrance.
F.H. Paschen declined to comment on the State/Lake station project that will be done in three phases, with completion slated for 2029.
