California station (CTA Blue Line)
California is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Blue Line, on North California Avenue near West Fullerton Avenue in the Logan Square neighborhood. From California, trains run every 2–7 minutes during rush-hour periods, and take 12 minutes to reach the Loop. It is not to be confused with the California station on the Blue Line's Congress Branch, which permanently closed in 1973.
California 2800W 2300N | |||||||||||||
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| Chicago 'L' rapid transit station | |||||||||||||
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| Location | 2211 North California Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60647 | ||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°55′19″N 87°41′49″W | ||||||||||||
| Owned by | Chicago Transit Authority | ||||||||||||
| Line(s) | O'Hare Branch | ||||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 Side platforms | ||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||
| Structure type | Elevated | ||||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | Yes | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
| Opened | May 25, 1895 | ||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | 1,702,462[1]  1.5% (CTA) | ||||||||||||
| Rank | 34 out of 143 | ||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||
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California, the other two stations on the Milwaukee Elevated, and Forest Park are the only Blue Line stations that are not located in an expressway median, or underground. The Milwaukee Elevated stations are also the only stations on the Blue Line to have side platforms, as all of the subway and freeway stations on the line use island platforms.
History
California station opened on May 25, 1895 as part of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated's Logan Square branch. In the summer of 2008, a temporary entrance immediately to the north of the station house was utilized for two weeks in order to renovate the station house. After stripping the interior, and removing the joist-supported wooden floor, the former crawl space was filled with gravel and covered by a concrete slab, the surface of which was patterned to imitate cobblestone. The repositioned agent box and farecard vending machines substantially increased the pedestrian traffic efficiency through the station house.
The station closed during September and October 2014 for major repairs, but the renovation plans did not include retrofitting the stop so that the elevated platform would be accessible to disabled passengers. The reopening ceremony on October 16 was attended by dignitaries including Rahm Emanuel and Dick Durbin.[2][3]
Gallery
References
- "Monthly Ridership Report – December 2019" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. January 13, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
- Hilkevitch, Jon (13 October 2014), "Blue Line's California station to reopen Thursday", Chicago Tribune, retrieved 17 April 2015
- Swartz, Tracy (16 October 2014), "CTA California Blue Line stop opens to fanfare", RedEye, Chicago Tribune, retrieved 17 April 2015
External links