The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has chosen a team made up of French contractor Vinci and local company Walsh Construction to design and build the extension to the Red Line of the city’s metro.
Walsh-Vinci Transit Community Partners won the $2.9bn contract after a two-year procurement process. The other two teams in the running were an all-Chicago consortium made up of contractors FH Paschen, Ragnar Benson, Milhouse and BOWA, and Omaha-based contractor Kiewit (see further reading).
The Red Line runs along the shore of Lake Michigan, and the extension will move its southern terminus 9km from 95th to 130th street, and add four stations.
As well as Walsh and Vinci, the consortium includes design engineer EXP and French rail specialist Systra, among others.
The project is the largest ever undertaken by the CTA, and is designed to throw an economic lifeline to the city’s deprived South Side.
The authority has a detailed plan to use the scheme to offer training and contracts to people and businesses in the area. The overall aim is to ensure “disadvantaged business enterprises” carry out 25% of the design work and 22% of construction.
Dorval Carter, the president of the CTA, said: “The Red Line Extension corrects past transit inequity and increases access to the most affordable transportation in the city. Hiring the contracting team that can provide the best value to the CTA to construct the RLE is a consequential step that demonstrates our vow to build this project.
“The project is an example of how transportation dollars can be distributed to have lasting impact on the Far South Side including workforce and small business opportunities that create jobs and support families.”
Walsh Construction and Systra are also working on the first phase of the $2.1bn CTA Red and Purple Modernisation project, which will upgrade the northern sections of the Red Line.
EXP has worked on CTA projects including the Garfield (Green Line) Gateway Project and improvements to the O’Hare Blue Line.
Construction is slated to begin in late 2025 and finish in 2030.
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