Harlem is a

Chicago "L" The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid tr ...

station serving the Blue Line's O'Hare branch. It is not to be confused with the other Blue Line station. Trains run from Harlem every 2–7 minutes during rush hour, and take 30–45 minutes to travel to the Loop. O'Hare-bound trains take 10 minutes to reach the airport from Harlem. The station is located in the median of the

Kennedy Expressway The John F. Kennedy Expressway is a nearly freeway in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Portions of the freeway carry I-190, I-90 and I-94. The freeway runs in a southeast–northwest direction between the central city neighborhood of the W ...

. Harlem station opened on February 27, 1983 as part of the 7.9-mile extension of the West-Northwest Route from Jefferson Park to . Similar to the 1970-built stations on the previous Kennedy Extension (Addison to Jefferson Park), Harlem station sits in the median of the Kennedy Expressway (Interstate 90). Where the previous Kennedy stations were all designed by

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...

(SOM) to be aesthetically similar in appearance, stations on the O'Hare Extension beyond Jefferson Park were designed by four different firms in a variety of architectural styles. The Harlem station, the only one designed by SOM, shares a similar boxy, open design of the previous 1970 Kennedy Extension (and the 1969-built Dan Ryan stations), except the newer Harlem station has an enclosed platform canopy where the support frame was designed on the highway median walls, thus providing an unobstructed platform, free of column supports. An almost identical canopy frame was also employed at the station, however, it was designed another architectural super-giant,

Perkins + Will Perkins&Will is a global design practice founded in 1935. Since 1986, the group has been a subsidiary of Lebanon-based Dar Al-Handasah (Arabic: دار الهندسة). Phil Harrison has been the firm's CEO since 2006. History The firm was establ ...

Bus connections

CTA CTA may refer to: Legislation *Children's Television Act, American legislation passed in 1990 that enforces a certain degree of educational television *Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 *Criminal Tribes Act, British legislation in India passed in 1871 wh ...

* 88 Higgins * 90 Harlem

Pace Pace or paces may refer to: Business *Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US * Pace Airlines, an American charter airline *Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...

* 209 Busse Highway (Weekdays only) * 423 Linden CTA/The Glen/Harlem CTA (Weekdays only)

Gallery

File:Harlem O'hare CTA Parking.jpg, Harlem Transit Center Sign, November 2007 Image:Harlem Artwork.JPG, Harlem Station Mural, February 2008 File:Harlem O'Hare CTA Platform.JPG, View of the Kennedy Expressway from the platform, November 2007

Notes and references

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References

External links