AECOM wins $17 million to design the rebuild of 13 miles of Chicago's Blue Line

The contract covers about 70,000 track feet from the Illinois Medical District station west to the I-290 bridge, a short way east of Forest Park station, Mass Transit and Progressive Railroading reported from the CTA's announcement. AECOM will survey the full corridor and design new and upgraded track, signals, power, drainage and utilities inside the CTA right-of-way. It will also review drainage on the I-290 shoulders and how that water affects rail service. Three local firms certified as disadvantaged business enterprises hold more than 15% of the work: DB Sterling Consultants, Facet Engineering and GSG Consultants.

Most of the money comes from a $15.8 million Federal Highway Administration Carbon Reduction grant. IDOT applied for it on the CTA's behalf, and the two agencies approved an agreement in July to move the funds, according to Mass Transit. The Forest Park Review reported that design should start this year and that there is no construction timeline yet for these 13 miles.

Much of the branch along the Eisenhower Expressway dates to 1958, the CTA says. The first phase, finished in 2023, rebuilt a three-mile stretch from the Illinois Medical District east to LaSalle for $268 million. A two-mile piece between Kedzie and Keeler avenues was designed separately and left out of the AECOM contract; construction there is expected to start in 2027 with federal Reconnecting Communities money. The CTA, IDOT and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning coordinate the track work with the I-290 rebuild through the Connect 290 Blue program.