Harlem Blue Line bus terminal work drags months behind schedule

by CYRYL JAKUBOWSKI

A “contractor issue” is reportedly delaying the completion of the new bus bridge and canopy over the Kennedy Expressway at the Harlem CTA Blue Line station at 5550 N. Harlem Ave., according to Alderman Napolitano’s chief-of-staff Chris Vittorio.

Originally slated for completion earlier this year, the $19.6 million project involves building a new steel and concrete elevated bus bridge that serves as a boarding area featuring a five-lane bus bay with a canopy, as well as a commuter drop-off area, a news release said in 2024, when the project began.

Vittorio said many residents have complained about the inability to use the “Park and Ride” facility and that the project has become a “major inconvenience.” Last year, a CTA spokesperson directed people to use the Cumberland or Rosemont CTA Park and Ride facilities.

“They are looking at a completion date way past the original project timeline,” Vittorio said. He said that he is hoping to get more information later this week.

“All I’ve been told is that it’s some major issue with the contractor at this point,” Vittorio said.

“People are complaining that everything is dirty,” Vittorio said. At a “State of the Ward” address earlier this year, Alderman Anthony Napolitano said that once the project is completed, the entire bus deck will need to be “essentially boiled” from the dirt.

A reporter visited the site earlier this week only to be told by a project manager trying to finish a sandwich that “they are trying to finish” the project.

A CTA construction report from January of this year said the structural steel bridge portion has been completed. The report listed other items would be completed in 2025, including installing the new bridge canopy, masonry for the washroom, concrete for the deck and sidewalks, below bridge lightning, and directional bore for water and sewer.

Bus service changes near the station have been in place since the project began. CTA bus routes #88 Higgins and #90 Harlem have been rerouted to make service stops along Harlem near the station. Pace suburban bus routes #209 and #423 have also be rerouted.

Messages to the CTA regarding a project update have not been returned.

The Harlem station was built between 1982 and 1983 as part of the CTA’s O’Hare Branch extension of the Blue Line.

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