Lawrence is a temporarily closed
'L' station on the
Chicago Transit Authority
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , o ...
's
Red Line. It is an elevated station located at 1117 West Lawrence Avenue in the
Uptown neighborhood of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. The adjacent stations are
Argyle, located about to the north, and
Wilson, about to the south, serving as alternate stations remaining open while Lawrence is closed for reconstruction. Four tracks pass through the station, though the two eastern tracks are out of service for reconstruction, with a single island platform in the center of the tracks;
Purple Line weekday rush hour express service use the outside tracks and do not stop.
Lawrence station is located in the historic Uptown entertainment district. Nearby attractions include the
Aragon Ballroom, the
Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
The Green Mill Cocktail Lounge (or Green Mill Jazz Club) is an entertainment venue on Broadway in Uptown, Chicago. It is known for its jazz and poetry performances, along with its connections to Chicago mob history.
History
Originally named Pop ...
, the
Riviera Theater
The Riviera Theatre is a concert venue located on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States.
About
Built in 1917, it was designed by Rapp and Rapp for the Balaban & Katz theatre chain run by A. J. Balaban, his brother Barney Balaba ...
, and the
Uptown Theatre.
History
Lawrence station opened in 1923, shortly after the
Northwestern Elevated Railroad
The Northwestern Elevated Railroad was the last of the privately constructed rapid transit lines to be built in Chicago. The line ran from the Loop in downtown Chicago north to Wilson Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood with a branch to Raven ...
was elevated between Wilson and
Howard
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
. The original station house was demolished and replaced with a temporary structure in 1995.
Red & Purple Modernization Project
Closure of the Lawrence station (along with
Thorndale, and
Jarvis on the Red Line and
South Boulevard and
Foster on the Purple Line) was proposed in three of the CTA's six potential options for the renovation of the Purple Line and northern section of the Red Line. In two plans, the station would be replaced by a new auxiliary entrance at Ainslie from Argyle, while in the third replacement would be by an auxiliary entrance at Winona from a new subterranean station at Foster.
As part of Phase I of the Red & Purple Modernization Project, the station closed for demolition beginning on May 16, 2021, and a newly constructed station will reopen by December 2024. The new station will feature wider platforms, better lighting, and be accessible to passengers with disabilities.
Bus connections
CTA
*
36 Broadway
*
81 Lawrence (Owl Service) (Currently re-routed to
Wilson during station closure)
[https://www.transitchicago.com/travel-information/alert-detail/?AlertId=76180]
Notes and references
Notes
Station closed until further notice
References
External links
Train schedule (PDF)a
CTA official siteLawrence Station PageCTA official siteLawrence Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
CTA Red Line stations
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1923
{{Illinois-railstation-stub