Politics & Government

CTA Cleanup Coming For Niles Riders?

Chicago officials to enact $25 million for 'Renew Crew' repair and cleanup of transit stations.

Chicago Transit Authority rail stations across the Chicago area are getting a facelift. Will the effort include the stations Niles riders use, such as Jefferson Park, Harlem and Cumberland?

"We don't have a complete list ready right now but it's not limited to Chicago proper," a CTA spokeswoman told Patch.

At a news conference Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CTA President Forrest Claypool announced the debut of a public-private partnership that will result in makeovers for more than 100 rail stations.

The effort will utilize a mix of city employees and private contractors — dubbed the "Renew Crew" — to perform the work over the course of a year, moving from one station to the next painting walls and ceilings, repairing masonry and busted concrete, planting trees, washing tunnel walls and replacing signage. Other work will take place behind-the-scenes. (See the CTA's Flickr page for examples at a few rail stations across the city.)

“This is sort of a SWAT team approach to comprehensively address all the outstanding issues at a station at once – cleaning, repairing and improving rather than the piecemeal approach used previously," Claypool said in a news release.

The CTA has created a website alerting users to the schedule for clean-ups.

The Chicago Tribune reports the cleanup effort will cost $25 million, using money Claypool said became available after cuts in the agency's bureaucracy and efficiencies in the repair process. Yet the CTA continues to wrestle with a budget gap, and Emanuel and Claypool at Tuesday's news conference wouldn't rule out fare hikes for commuters.

The CTA's budget is expected to come out in a month.

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