Grand (CTA Blue Line station)

Grand
Location 502 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60622
Coordinates 41°53′28″N 87°38′51″W / 41.891189°N 87.647578°WCoordinates: 41°53′28″N 87°38′51″W / 41.891189°N 87.647578°W
Owned by City of Chicago
Line(s)
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Structure type Subway
Depth 35 ft
Bicycle facilities Yes
History
Opened February 25, 1951
Closed February 9, 1992 – June 25, 1999
Rebuilt 1999, 2007
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 809,531[1] Increase 4.1% (CTA)
Rank 87 out of 143[lower-alpha 1]
Services
Preceding station   Chicago "L"   Following station
toward O'Hare
Blue Line
toward Forest Park
Route map
Legend

Blue Line
northwest to O'Hare

Blue Line
southeast to Forest Park

Grand (or Grand and Milwaukee in station announcements) is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Blue Line, at Grand Avenue, Halsted Street and Milwaukee Avenue in the southeast corner of the West Town neighborhood. It is also located within the Fulton River District.

History

Grand opened in 1951 as part of the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway. The Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway was the second subway line in Chicago's Loop since the State Street Subway opened 8 years earlier in 1943.

Closure and Reopening

Starting in 1982, Grand was closed during night and weekend hours as a cost savings measure due to low ridership. By 1992, the station was only serving 850 passengers a day, and, as a result, the CTA closed the station on February 9, due to its low ridership and a budget crisis.[2][3] While the station was closed, the five stairways to the subway platform became garbage-strewn, and the station fell into disrepair. On April 21, 1999, the CTA decided to reopen Grand due to population growth in the area around the station.[4] After some refurbishment, Grand reopened on June 25, 1999 at 6:00 a.m.[5]

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. ↑ "Monthly Ridership Report – December 2014" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority Ridership Analysis and Reporting. March 5, 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Gillis, Michael (February 2, 1992). "Big bus, L cuts by CTA start next weekend". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 55.
  3. ↑ "CTA's Cuts Take Effect". Chicago Tribune. February 9, 1992. p. 2.
  4. ↑ http://www.transitchicago.com/news/default.aspx?Month=4&Year=1999&Category=2&ArticleId=1964
  5. ↑ "CTA RE-OPENS GRAND/MILWAUKEE BLUE LINE STATION" (Press release). Chicago Transit Authority. June 24, 1999.

External links

Street level staircase entrance to the station
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grand/Milwaukee (CTA).