CTA Circle Line Getting a Boost?
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Mar 11, 2009 2:40PM
The long-rumored CTA Circle Line is one step closer to reality this morning after the U.S. Congress passed the omnibus spending package yesterday; the bill includes a $6 million earmark for the line. The bill counted Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin among its sponsors and Durbin considers the Circle Line key to the city's 2016 Olympic bid. Using new and existing tracks, the Circle Line would connect all existing CTA lines as well as Metra lines (read the CTA's 2002 report on it here). The Circle Line isn't the only earmark for Chicago transit, though. It also includes around $250,000 for both the Red and Yellow Lines to extend (a drop in the bucket) and $30 million for upgrades to the Brown Line, which is what we thought has been going on for the past year and a half. [WBEZ]