Wilson (CTA Station)
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Wilson is an 'L' station on the CTA's
Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
and Purple Lines, located at 4620 North Broadway in the Uptown neighborhood of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
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.


History

The station opened on May 31, 1900, as the northern terminus of 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 ...
. It was converted to a two level station in 1907, with a loop track to aid turning trains. Wilson became a through station in 1908 when the Northwestern Elevated Railroad was extended to in Evanston (using tracks belonging to the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway). The extended right-of-way allowed for a retail structure partially beneath the elevated tracks, which was designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
in 1909, known as the Stohr Arcade Building. This structure only lasted until razing in 1922. The Stohr Arcade Building included "design themes that are reminiscent of the Robie House designed three years earlier". The previous station building, known as the Gerber Building, was built in 1923, shortly after the tracks to the north were elevated; the McJunkin Building across was then used to access the Lower station platforms. Over the years the station has been extensively reconfigured: the lower level was closed on August 1, 1949; the platforms were reconfigured in 1960; and the North Shore Line—which also used the station—ceased operation in 1963, enabling the station layout to be simplified. A yard and shops were built adjacent to the station in 1901, these continued in use until the Howard Yard was expanded in 1993. The shop building was badly damaged in a fire on October 26, 1996, and the site was cleared soon after. This site remained empty for several years with plans for development in place. As of 2011, an
Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...
store, a
Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
store, and residences now occupy this area.


Stub track

An elevated stub line from the station is a remnant of a connection into the former Buena Interchange Yard, where freight was exchanged with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway. The CTA stopped carrying freight in the early 1970s and the stub was demolished south of Montrose Avenue. The Lakewood Avenue branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway is now operated by the
Soo Line Railroad The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , one of seven U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sa ...
, but no longer exists north of Diversey Avenue. In 2010, further demolition split the remaining stub into two sections to allow for new Truman College construction.


Wilson Station Reconstruction Project

The CTA's 2004–2008 Capital Improvement Plan included plans to reconstruct the station starting in 2008. In 2012, the CTA began planning to reconstruct the station to create a transfer point between
Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
and Purple Line Express trains (the only one since express service was discontinued in 1976). The rebuilt station has a new main station entrance on the south side of Wilson, elevators, escalators, wider stairwells, additional turnstiles, new lights, new signage, additional bike parking, new security cameras, new train trackers, two
island platforms An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
to provide cross platform transfers between the two lines, and two auxiliary entrances: one at Sunnyside Avenue and one on the north side of Wilson. Demolition work for the project began in October 2014 and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on December 8, 2014. The station remained open during reconstruction. Demolition of track 1 (the western track) began during the weekend of March 6, 2015. As a result, southbound Purple Line Express trains shared the same track with southbound Red Line trains and stopped at Wilson, Sheridan, and Addison in the AM rush hour only. This phase lasted for one year which ended with the activation of the new track 1 and new southbound platform. Demolition of track 2 began on March 21, 2016. Temporary entrances opened on the same day and will remain open until completion of reconstruction. In addition, the western half of the new southbound platform opened for southbound Red Line and AM rush hour Purple Line Express trains, with Purple Line Express trains bypassing Addison station once again. Northbound Red Line trains continued to use the old platform, and the western half of the old Red Line platform closed. Demolition of track 3 and the start of construction for a new northbound platform and new stationhouse began on September 26, 2016. The remaining half of the southbound platform reopened and the old platform used by Red Line trains closed. Northbound Red Line trains will stop on the eastern half of the southbound platform until the end of the project. Demolition of track 4 started on March 13, 2017. This phase was completed on September 20, 2017. The east platform and the auxiliary entrance on the north side of Wilson opened for service on October 23, 2017. The auxiliary entrance on Sunnyside Avenue opened for service on December 1, 2017. On February 5, 2018, The CTA announced the completion of the project.


Red and Purple Modernization

Starting in May 2021, the two northbound (eastern) tracks were taken out of service so the structure carrying those tracks could be rebuilt north of the station, with all trains running on the usual southbound (western tracks). In 2022, the northbound tracks will re-enter service and the southbound tracks will be taken out of service.


Facilities

The station has two island platforms serving four tracks. Red Line trains stop on the inside tracks, while Purple Line Express trains stop on the outside tracks during weekday rush hours.


Location

The station is located in the Uptown neighborhood at 4620 North Broadway in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
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 ...
(directional coordinates 4600 north, 1100 west). It is the closest station to
Harry S Truman College Harry S Truman College, (called Truman College and formerly called Mayfair College), is a part of City Colleges of Chicago. It offers multiple 2-year associate degrees, as well as occupational training in a number of fields. Located at 1145 W ...
.


Bus connections

CTA *36 Broadway *78 Montrose *81 Lawrence


Notes and references


Notes


References


External links


Wilson Station Page
a
Chicago-'L'.org

Train schedule (PDF)
a
CTA official siteWilson Station PageCTA official siteBroadway Avenue Primary Entrance from Google Maps Street ViewWilson Avenue auxiliary entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{Chicago "L" stations navbox, Red=Yes, Purple=Yes CTA Red Line stations CTA Purple Line stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1900 Former North Shore Line stations Frank Lloyd Wright buildings CTA stations located above ground