As the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line Extension (RLE) project moves through the design phase, community input is crucial. The four new Red Line stations will extend service from 95th Street to 130th Street, and the RLE team wants to ensure that residents of the surrounding communities are considered at every step of the project.
The goal of community involvement is for people who live in areas impacted by the project to be included in it — either by working on it, or by providing input on it. This allows our project team to make sure the designs of the new stations are functional for those who will visit them in their daily lives. Engaging community members happens in a variety of ways, including community meetings, student programs and workforce development programs.
EXP, along with our partners, 2IM, Rubinos & Mesia Engineers, SYSTRA and R.M. Chin & Associates, recently attended a community engagement event at Englewood STEM High School. The project team gave students an opportunity to review renderings of the new stations and talk with engineers, architects and communications professionals about which features are most important to them, and how our transit system can be improved for them. This RLE Design Workforce Development Program also gives students insight into potential career paths and creates a framework for students interested in pursuing those paths.
Students also learned about the RLE Design Summer Lab, a paid internship opportunity that will allow them to work alongside RLE project team members to gain real-world experience early on in their career journeys.
The RLE team is committed to hearing the feedback and ideas of Chicago residents as the project continues through 2030. Our team at EXP is proud to be a part of the Walsh-Vinci Transit Community Partners team, improving equitable transit in the City of Chicago.
Learn more about workforce opportunities on the Red Line Extension project.