December 21, 2009 – Renovation of the CTA Red Line station at Grand & State, disrupting the northwest corner of the intersection, will remain in place over the winter.

The Chicago Department of Transportation says, depending on the weather, construction near the corner should resume in April. Eventually, work will switch to the northeast corner and be completed, says CDOT, by the end of next year.

The upper mezzanine and lower platform levels of the station are being rebuilt to accommodate more riders. Most of the funding for the $67 million project is coming from the Federal Transit Administration. About $13 million will come from Illinois taxpayers.

Currently, State Street is reduced to one northbound lane between Illinois Street and Ohio Street. Southbound traffic on State Street must turn east onto Ohio. CDOT says it will stay like that through next spring.

Pedestrians walking on State cannot cross Grand on the west side of State but can cross on the east side.

Grand Avenue, meanwhile, is reduced to two westbound lanes from Wabash Avenue to Dearborn Street.

According to CDOT, the station is its eighth busiest, with 8,000 passengers daily. It was constructed in the 1940s and this is its first major update.