Western (CTA Blue Line O'Hare branch station)

Western is a Chicago "L" station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line, The station is located within the Bucktown neighborhood in the larger Logan Square community area. Opened in 1895, it is one of the oldest stations on what is now the Blue Line.

Western was constructed by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad to serve its Logan Square branch. The Metropolitan's operations, along with the rest of the "L", were assumed by the private Chicago Rapid Transit Company in 1924 and the public Chicago Transit Authority in 1948. The rail lines that had been constructed by the Metropolitan were significantly altered in the 1950s, a process that created the "West-Northwest Route" in 1958, which was renamed the Blue Line in 1992. After the West-Northwest Route was created, the Logan Square branch was extended multiple times in the 1970s and 1980s to O'Hare International Airport, becoming known as the present-day "O'Hare branch"

Western station itself was significantly rebuilt in 1930, and again in 20002001. Both reconstructions maintained substantial pieces of the station's historical fabric while introducing many new elements and modernizations.

History

The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company was granted a 50-year franchise by the Chicago City Council on April 7, 1892, and began securing right of way shortly thereafter. As designed, the Metropolitan's operations would comprise a main line that went west from downtown to Marshfield, where three branches one northwest to Logan Square, one due west to Garfield Park, and one southwest to Douglas Parkwould diverge and serve various parts of Chicago's west side. A further branch to Humboldt Park would proceed due west from the Logan Square branch just past Robey Street.

The Metropolitan began service at 6 a.m. on Monday, May 6, 1895, between Robey on the Logan Square branch and Canal on the main line. The Logan Square branch was extended to Logan Square on May 25, an extension that included a station on Western Avenue.

The Metropolitan's lines were originally operated by the West Side Construction Company, which had been responsible for constructing them, and would be transferred to the Metropolitan on October 6, 1896. The backers and officers of the two companies were largely identical, however, so this transfer of ownership was nominal. The expenses incurred in constructing the Metropolitan's vast trackage would come back to haunt the company, which entered receivership in 1897; the similarly-named Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railway Company was organized in January 1899 and assumed operations on February 3 of that year. The new Metropolitan, along with the other companies operating "L" lines in Chicago, became a part of the Chicago Elevated Railways (CER) trust on July 1, 1911. CER acted as a ''de facto'' holding company for the "L"unifying its operations, instituting the same management across the companies, and instituting free transfers between the lines starting in 1913but kept the underlying companies intact. This continued until the companies were formally merged into the single Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) in 1924, which assumed operations on January 9; the former Metropolitan was designated the Metropolitan division of the CRT for administrative purposes. Although municipal ownership of transit had been a hotly-contested issue for half a century, the publicly-owned Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) would not be created until 1945, or assume operation of the "L" until October 1, 1947.

The CTA instituted major changes on the "L", which was suffering from declining ridership, antiquated infrastructure, and complicated routing. With respect to the lines built by the Metropolitan, it instituted broad changes that had been planned since the late 1930s; the Logan Square branch south of Damen was replaced by the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway, which opened on February 25, 1951. With the subway's opening, it also restricted the Humboldt Park branch to a shuttle service to and from Damen, and closed it altogether in 1952. Combined with the replacement of the main line and Garfield Park branch with the Congress Line in 1958, this formed a new route called the "West-Northwest Route", which entered service on June 22, 1958. This route was renamed the Blue Line in 1992. Skip-stop, where certain "A" and "B" trains stopped at respective "A" and "B" stations, was instituted with the 1951 opening of the subway; Western was deemed a "B" station.

Station reconstructions and renovations

In 1930, an Art Deco style façade replaced its original station entrance. In 2000–2001, a renovation project of the station included ADA-accessible elevators. During refurbishment the station Art Deco façade was restored with the station house.

Your New Blue Program

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Pat Quinn announced on December 5, 2013, a $429 million comprehensive improvement plan called "Your New Blue" for the O'Hare branch and Dearborn Street Subway, both a part of the Blue Line. The improvements to Western as a part of Your New Blue include a public art installation, called "Remnants , Restos", upgrading the station house, installing secure bicycle storage, a sidewalk canopy, LEDs for the historic façade, and replacement of the roofing, handrails, and guardrails on the north and south stairs.

Station details

Operations and connections

Streetcars replaced cable cars on Milwaukee Avenue between Lawrence and downtown on August 19, 1906. An extension route from Lawrence to Imlay, near the Forest Preserve, opened on December 11, 1914, and the lines were through-routed on October 1, 1927. Streetcars were typically one car each in Chicago; two-car multiple-unit control trains ran on Milwaukee Avenue between March 2, 1925 and May 5, 1929. As of 1928, the line had owl service between 1:05 and 5:35 a.m., wherein cars to Devon Avenue ran every 15 minutes and cars to Gale Street ran every 30 minutes; during the day, streetcars in Chicago typically had intervals of eight to fifteen minutes. Buses replaced streetcars on weekends on October 28, 1951, and altogether on May 11, 1952.

A streetcar line on Western Avenue was through-routed between Roscoe and 71st Street on September 5, 1911. This route was extended north to Lawrence Avenue on October 28, 1912, and consolidated with another route to the north to form a through-route to Howard Avenue on May 1, 1923, which was termed "Through Route 10" (TR 10) in 1924. As of 1928, TR 10 had owl service between 1 and 4:30 a.m., wherein a car ran every thirty minutes. Southward extension through the 1920s and early 1930s brought TR 10 to 111th Street on November 8, 1931. Buses replaced streetcars on the outlying portions of the route on August 1, 1948, during weekends on the central portion of the route on December 7, 1952, and altogether on June 17, 1956; however, the central route and the two outlying routes separated by the incremental introduction of buses were not reunited. Streetcars were two-man on Western before June 19, 1955, and one-man afterwards.

Another streetcar route, on Armitage Avenue, also served the station. Before 1906, this was a shuttle to Milwaukee Avenue, but became a through-route between Kostner Street and Milwaukee to downtown. The route was extended west to Cicero Avenue in 1912, and a further western extension to Grand Avenue took place on August 15, 1914. Another route on Armitage, going east of the Chicago River and starting from Campbell near the station, began service on June 19, 1914. One-man cars began on the east route on April 1, 1923, and east route service also extended to Grand Avenue on February 2, 1925. The west route was considered a branch of the Milwaukee Avenue route, using the same cars, crews, barns, and transfers as the route. As of 1928, the east route had owl service between 1:08 and 5 a.m., with a car running every fifteen minutes, whereas the west route did not have owl service, the last westbound car leaving downtown at 12:50 a.m. and night service being covered by the east route. Downtown service for west route cars was discontinued on Sundays on May 1, 1932, to save costs. Buses replaced streetcars east of the River on February 26, 1951, and altogether on June 24, 1951.

Bus connections

CTA
* 49 Western (Owl Service)
* X49 Western Express (Weekday Rush Hours only)
* 56 Milwaukee
* 73 Armitage

Notes

References

Works cited

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CTA Blue Line stations
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1895
CTA stations located above ground

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