Howard (CTA station)

Howard
Location 7519 North Paulina Street
Chicago, Illinois 60626
Coordinates 42°01′09″N 87°40′23″W / 42.019161°N 87.673093°W
Owned by Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)
Platforms 2 island platforms
Tracks 4
Connections

CTA Buses

Pace Buses
Construction
Structure type Embankment
Parking 634 spaces
Bicycle facilities Yes
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened May 16, 1908
Rebuilt 1921, 1964 (station house remodeled), 2000–03 (parking garage and bus terminal renovation), 2006–09 (station reconstruction)
Previous names Howard Avenue
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 2,043,714[1] Decrease 1.1%
Rank 32 out of 134[lower-alpha 1]
Services
Preceding station   Chicago "L"   Following station
TerminusRed Line
Oakton-Skokie
toward Dempster-Skokie
Yellow LineTerminus
toward Linden
Purple LineTerminus
Weekday Rush hours only
toward The Loop
(Cubs game days)
toward The Loop
Location

Howard is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system in Chicago, Illinois. It is the northern terminus of the Red Line and the southeastern terminus of the Yellow Line; it also serves the Purple Line, for which it is the southern terminus at non-rush hour times on weekdays and all day on weekends. Trains on the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (North Shore Line) also stopped at Howard from 1926 until that line was abandoned in 1963.

Location

Howard station is located at 7519 North Paulina Street in Chicago, Illinois, at Paulina Street and Howard Street.[2] The station is in the Rogers Park community area of Chicago, just south of the border with the city of Evanston. It is one of four 'L' stations in Rogers Park, the others being Jarvis, Morse, and Loyola.

History

The former North Shore Line entrance on the north side of Howard Street has been preserved and restored to use, now as an auxiliary exit

The Chicago and Evanston Railroad constructed a route from Union Station in Chicago into Evanston in 1885 that became the Chicago and Evanston branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad (Milwaukee Road).[3] In 1908, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad extended service north from Wilson station and into Evanston using the right of way of the Milwaukee Road.[4] The Northwestern Elevated took over the operation of passenger services from the Milwaukee Road, rebuilt the stations along the line, and added new stations including one at Howard Avenue (now Howard Street).[5] The station was rebuilt in 1921 when the line through the station was elevated onto an embankment. An escalator was added in 1964.

Howard station during reconstruction in 2007. In the foreground are the wooden platforms and canopies dating from 1921; in the background new concrete platforms are under construction.

Between 2006 and 2009 the station was rebuilt. A new station house was constructed on Paulina Street providing an accessible path between the station platforms and the multi-story parking garage and bus terminal to the west of the station.[6] The platforms and canopies were rebuilt, and the former main entrance on Howard Street entrance was renovated to be used as an auxiliary entrance to the new station. The station remained open throughout reconstruction, which was completed on March 20, 2009.[6]

Station layout

2F - Crossover between platforms; Entrance/Exit to bus terminal
P
Platform level		 Northbound express ← Purple Line toward Linden (South Boulevard)
← Red Line exit platform for passengers
Island platform, doors will open on the left for express trains, right for local trains
Northbound local ← Yellow Line toward Dempster–Skokie (Oakton–Skokie)
← Red Line exit platform for passengers
← Purple Line toward Linden (South Boulevard)
Southbound local → Yellow Line exit platform for passengers →
→ Red Line toward 95th/Dan Ryan (Jarvis) →
→ Purple Line toward The Loop weekday rush hours only (Sheridan game days only, Belmont weekday rush hours only)→
Purple Line exit platform for passengers at other times→
Island platform, doors will open on the left for express trains, right for local trains
Southbound express → Purple Line toward The Loop weekday rush hours only (Sheridan game days only, Belmont weekday rush hours only) →
→ Purple Line exit platform for passengers at other times →
→ Red Line toward 95th/Dan Ryan (Jarvis) →
G Street level Entrance/Exit

A Park and Ride with 634 spaces, and sheltered bicycle provided at this station.[2] A large maintenance yard and rolling stock storage facility, known as Howard Yard, is just north of the station. Northbound Purple and Yellow Line trains pass through the yard on the way to their respective branches, and Red Line trains travel from the north-bound platform to the south-bound platform via a balloon loop in the yard. Southbound Yellow Line and non-rush hour Purple Line trains terminate at this station using a pocket track, located between the Red Line tracks, south of the station.

Services

Howard is served by several bus routes in addition to 'L' trains.[2] Eight CTA bus routes stop at the station, the #22 Clark, #97 Skokie, #147 Outer Drive Express, #151 Sheridan, #201 Central/Ridge, #205 Chicago/Golf, and #206 Evanston Circulator. There are also two Pace routes that stop at the station, the #215 Crawford-Howard and #290 Touhy Avenue buses.

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 14 April 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Howard". CTA website. Chicago Transit Authority. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  3. ↑ "The Chicago & Evanston". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 22, 1885.
  4. ↑ "The Northwestern Elevated Extension at Evanston, ILL". The Street Railway Journal 31 (21): 842–849. May 23, 1908.
  5. ↑ "Electrification of the Evanston Suburban Line of the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul". The Railway Age 44 (14): 467. October 4, 1907.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Opening of Auxiliary Entrance at Howard Station Completes Station Renovations". CTA website. Chicago Transit Authority. Retrieved August 23, 2010.

External links

Media related to Howard (CTA) at Wikimedia Commons