Clark/Lake (CTA station)

Clark/Lake

Clark/Lake elevated platforms
Location 100-124 West Lake Street
Chicago, Illinois 60601
Coordinates 41°53′09″N 87°37′51″W / 41.885767°N 87.630886°W
Owned by Chicago Transit Authority (elevated)
City of Chicago (subway)
Line(s)
  Purple Line weekday rush hours only
Platforms 2 Side platforms (elevated)
1 Island platform (subway)
Tracks 2
Construction
Structure type Subway (Blue) & Elevated (Loop)
Depth 40 ft (Blue Line platform)
Platform levels 3
Bicycle facilities Yes
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened

Elevated Platforms: September 22, 1895[1][2]

Subway Platform: February 25, 1951
Rebuilt March 23, 1992
Previous names Lake Transfer (Subway)
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 5,573,235[3] Increase 0.5% (CTA)
Rank 2 out of 143[lower-alpha 1]
Services
Preceding station   Chicago "L"   Following station
  Subway station  
toward O'Hare
Blue Line
Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway
toward Forest Park
  Elevated Through-route  
toward Harlem/Lake
Green Line
  Loop Station Service  
One-way operation
Brown Line
toward Kimball
One-way operation
Orange Line
toward Midway
One-way operation
Purple Line
toward Linden
One-way operation
Pink Line
toward 54th/Cermak

Clark/Lake is a Chicago 'L' station located at 100/124 West Lake Street in Chicago's Loop district, and is accessed from the James R. Thompson Center and 203 North LaSalle building. It is one of the most complex stations on the 'L' system, comprising an elevated station and a subway station. The elevated station is serviced by the Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, and Purple Lines, while the subway platform is serviced by the Blue Line. In December 2014 it had an average of 17,644 weekday passenger entrances, making it the second busiest station in the 'L' system.[3] The Richard J. Daley Center, Chicago City Hall, and Chicago Title and Trust Center are also served by the station.

Station layout

1F
Platform level		 Side platform, doors will open on the right
Counterclockwise ← Green Line toward Harlem/Lake (Clinton)
← Brown Line toward Kimball (Merchandise Mart)
(No service: Washington/Wells)
Clockwise → Green Line toward Ashland/63rd or Cottage Grove (State/Lake) →
→ Purple Line toward Linden weekday rush hours only (State/Lake) →
→ Pink Line toward 54th/Cermak (State/Lake) →
→ Orange Line toward Midway (State/Lake) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right
G Street level Entrance/Exit
B1 Mezzanine Fare control
B2
Platform level		 Northbound ← Blue Line toward O'Hare (Grand)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Southbound → Blue Line toward Forest Park (Washington) →

History

Clark/Lake is a super station consisting of two stations that have been merged into one.[4] The original elevated station opened on September 22, 1895 as one of three stations on the Lake Street Elevated Railroad's "Wabash extension".[1][2] This extension became the Lake Street leg of the Union Loop when it was completed in 1897. The subway station opened as Lake Transfer in the Dearborn Street Subway on February 25, 1951. In 1992, the elevated station was reconstructed, with its main entrance in the James R. Thompson Center. This enabled transfer between the elevated and subway platforms without leaving the paid area, and so the stations were combined into a single facility. Due to this, it is the one station that serves six of the eight lines. The Blue Line services the subway station while the Green, Orange, Brown, Pink and Purple (express) lines serve the elevated station.

Bus connections

CTA


Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ Due to possible double-counting of physically-connected stations, the CTA's official 2014 tally of stations was 145, but for ridership purposes reported having only 143 stations.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Service on Lake Street "L" Extension". Chicago Daily Tribune. September 20, 1895. p. 12.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Put in New Rails". Chicago Daily Tribune. September 23, 1895. p. 11.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Monthly Ridership Report – December 2014" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority Ridership Analysis and Reporting. March 5, 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Clark/Lake Chicago-'L'.org (URL accessed September 23, 2006).

External links

Media related to Clark/Lake (CTA) at Wikimedia Commons

Clark/Lake subway platform in 2009
Clark/Lake subway platform in 2013