UIC–Halsted station

For other 'L' stations on the Chicago Transit Authority named Halsted, see Halsted (CTA station).
UIC–Halsted
Location 430 South Halsted Street
Chicago, Illinois 60607
Coordinates 41°52′32″N 87°38′59″W / 41.875474°N 87.649707°W / 41.875474; -87.649707
Owned by Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)
  Blue Line
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Connections CTA Bus
Construction
Structure type Surface Level
Bicycle facilities Yes
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened June 22, 1958
Rebuilt 1965 (Peoria added), 2000–01
Previous names Halsted, U of I-Halsted
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 1,676,810[1] Decrease 1.1% (CTA)
Rank 41 out of 143[lower-alpha 1]
Services
Preceding station   Chicago "L"   Following station
toward O'Hare
Blue Line
toward Forest Park
Route map

Blue Line
to O'Hare
Halsted St.

Peoria St.

Morgan St.

Blue Line
to Forest Park

UIC–Halsted is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Blue Line. The station serves the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University Village neighborhood, and the Greektown neighborhood all located in the Near West Side.

History

UIC–Halsted opened in 1958 as one of the new stations on the Congress Line in the median of the Congress Expressway which replaced the Garfield Park branch that used to run along an alley in the right of way that is now on the present Eisenhower Expressway. Like the other stations on the Congress Line (and the future Dan Ryan Line and O'Hare Line on the Kennedy Expressway) the station has a single island platform. When the station originally opened, its name was just "Halsted." In 1965, when the University of Illinois' Chicago campus was opened, the station name was changed to "U of I-Halsted" and an additional exit to Peoria Street was added to access the campus. Most older signage on the station and some older Chicagoans still refer the station and the campus as U of I-Halsted and U of I, respectively. When the University was renamed as UIC in 1982, the station name was changed to the current "UIC–Halsted." This change is reflected on CTA print media and signage. This is the terminal for every 2 Blue Line trains on weekends and some trains on weekdays. At UIC-Halsted, Blue Line riders can transfer to trains to Forest Park.

Location

Looking east toward the ramp to Halsted Street
Looking west near the Peoria Street underpass

The Eisenhower Expressway median at the UIC–Halsted stop is twice as wide as necessary to accommodate the two tracks and platform, which are offset to only occupy the south half of the available median space. The Peoria Street station house was constructed in 1964,[2] centered not over the platform, but over the median to accommodate the anticipated future high-level subway line to run from there, under Clinton Street and the abandoned Jackson Boulevard streetcar tunnel under the river, to Grant Park.[3] The station house's position and the two extra portals east of Halsted Street[4] were all that came of that plan. Non-electrified tracks were later added in the empty space in the northern portion of the median in order to stage materials and work cars for tunnel repair and maintenance. West of this station also exists stub tracks, used for turnarounds for Forest Park-bound trains for which UIC-Halsted is their turnaround.

Amenities

The station has three entrances: Halsted Street, Morgan Street, and Peoria Street. The station house at Morgan Street has a large enclosed waiting room, with electronic signage that alerts passengers when trains are approaching the platform below. The Halsted Street station house has a Chase ATM. The Peoria Street entrance/exit was renovated from June 2014 to August 2015 and reopened on August 31st, 2015.

Bus connections

CTA

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ Due to possible double-counting of physically-connected stations, the CTA's official 2015 tally of stations was 146, but for ridership purposes reported having only 143 stations.

References

  1. ↑ "Monthly Ridership Report – December 2015" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority Ridership Analysis and Reporting. January 11, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  2. ↑ City of Chicago, Department of Development and Planning, Chicago Plan Commission, 1963 Annual Report (Chicago: City of Chicago, 1963), 22. Note, the department name was later reformatted Planning and Development.
  3. ↑ City of Chicago, Department of Subways and Superhighways, Sixth Annual Report of the Department of Subways and Superhighways, City of Chicago, for the Year Ending December 31, 1946 (Chicago: City of Chicago, December 31, 1946), 2, 5.
  4. ↑ City of Chicago, Department of Subways and Superhighways, Fourteenth Annual Report of the Department of Subways and Superhighways, City of Chicago, for the Year Ending December 31, 1952 (Chicago: City of Chicago, December 31, 1952), 36-37.
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