photo credit: Chicago Transit Authority
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Project Borrower / Sponsor | Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) |
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| Value Capture Techniques | Sales Tax Districts Tax Increment Financing |
| Mode | Heavy Rail |
| Description | The Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line Project (Your New Blue improvement program) is a series of modernization projects along Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line O'Hare Branch running between the Grand station just outside the Loop and O'Hare station at O'Hare International Airport. This 19-mile stretch of the O'Hare Branch, portions of which date back to 1895, will benefit from various track, power, signals, and station improvements, including:
The improvements are necessary to keep pace with growing ridership, which on the O'Hare Branch has outpaced the rail system as a whole over the past 10 years. The line serves 80,000 customers each weekday and had more than 26 million station entries in 2014. |
| Cost | $408.7 million (Federal project) |
| Funding Sources | TIFIA loan - $120 million City of Chicago Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district funds - $9 million RTA bonds - $19.36 million CTA bonds - $84.57 million State funds - $159.8 million TIGER - $16 million |
| Project Delivery / Contract Method | Multiple contract delivery methods |
| Private Partner | Multiple design-builders |
| Project Advisors / Consultants | PFM - Financial Advisor to the Borrower Charity & Associates - Counsel to the Borrower To USDOT TIFIA JPO
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| Lenders | Bondholders, USDOT TIFIA |
| Duration / Status | The first phase of the project began with track and station work in 2014. Expected completion of the full program is 2019. |
| TIFIA Credit Assistance | Direct Loan - $120 million The TIFIA loan will be repaid through farebox revenues. |
| Financial Status | The TIFIA credit agreement was executed on February 3, 2015. Financial close occurred on February 3, 2015. |
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| Related Links / Articles | |
| Contacts | Tom McKone |
