Roosevelt station (CTA)


Roosevelt is an "L" station on the CTA's Red, Green, and Orange Lines, located between the Chicago Loop and the Near South Side in Chicago, Illinois. It is situated at 1167 S State Street, just north of Roosevelt Road. The station is also the closest "L" station to the Museum Campus of Chicago and Soldier Field, which are about to the east. The Museum Campus/11th Street Metra station is also about to the east.

History and description

Elevated station

An elevated station at Roosevelt Road opened on June 6, 1892, as part of the Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad, the first elevated rapid transit line in Chicago. From 1919 to 1963 interurban trains of the North Shore Line also used the station. "L" service through the station was discontinued in 1949 when CTA routed all trains from the Englewood and Jackson Park branches through the State Street subway, using the 13th Street portal, forming the North-South Route, and following the bankruptcy of the North Shore Line in 1963 the station was closed completely and demolished. "L" service resumed passing the site of the original station in 1969 when the CTA began to route Dan Ryan trains into the Loop and a new elevated station was constructed in 1993 as part of the construction of the Orange Line.
Immediately south of the station exists a pocket track, which is used to turn trains back to the Loop if any activity, such as construction, is obstructing rail traffic.

Subway station

The subway station at Roosevelt Road opened on October 17, 1943, as part of the State Street subway. In 1993, when the new elevated station was constructed it was intended that there should be a direct link to the subway, however, due to lack of money this was not initially built. In 2002, the stations were finally linked as a single facility through the Roosevelt transfer tunnel.

Operations as a terminus

The subway station and elevated station have been used as termini, albeit both on very rare occasions. The elevated station has a reversing track located immediately south of the platform, used only when there is an obstruction between Roosevelt and and/or. The subway station last functioned as a terminus during Ravenswood Connector construction, when Brown Line trains were rerouted via the State Street subway to Roosevelt. If there is a service obstruction on the Red Line between and Roosevelt, trains are rerouted via the 13th Street Ramp to the Green Line, therefore negating the need for the station to be a terminus.

Bus connections

CTA