Commuters on the CTA Red Line on Chicago's North Side had four shiny new stops available on Sunday.
A ceremonial train busted through a banner Sunday morning at the Berwyn station, above Berwyn Avenue just east of Broadway in the Edgewater neighborhood, to celebrate the reopening.
The Berwyn station has been closed as part of the Chicago Transit Authority Red and Purple Modernization Project since 2021.
The Lawrence station, over Lawrence Avenue just east of Broadway, has also been closed altogether since 2021.
Two other stops, the Bryn Mawr and Argyle stations -- over Bryn Mawr Avenue and Argyle Street, and also just east of Broadway -- had temporary stations open while being rebuilt.
"There's a wider platform at each station. The concrete structure is going to allow for a smoother ride. They're fully accessible. There's elevators and escalators at all the station -- accessible to everyone," said CTA senior communications representative Andrew Gavrilos.
Gavrilos said the concrete structure is more wind and noise resistant, and there are also wider canopies at the top for weather protection.
"Well worth the wait," Gavrilos said.
The $2.1 billion Red and Purple Modernization Project has been replacing century-old tracks, signals, and platforms that had all reached the end of their service lives.
At the Bryn Mawr station, a new entrance has also opened a block north at Hollywood Avenue.
According to the Chicago -L.org history site -- which is not affiliated with the CTA, but was built by CTA historian and expert Graham Garfield, who now serves as the CTA's general manager for Red and Purple Modernization operations and communication coordination -- the Berwyn stop was first constructed in 1916 as the Edgewater Beach station on the Northwestern Elevated Railroad.
The station was renamed Berwyn, for Berwyn Avenue, in 1960, according to Chicago-L.org. Berwyn Avenue in turn was named by developer and Edgewater community developer John L. Cochran, a Philadelphia native, for the Philadelphia Main Line suburban community of Berwyn. The west Chicago suburb of Berwyn, which Berwyn Avenue does not run anywhere near, was named for the same Philadelphia suburb by different developers.
There has been a rapid transit station at Bryn Mawr Avenue, three blocks north of Berwyn Avenue, since 1908, according to Chicago-L.org. Bryn Mawr is another Philadelphia Main Line suburb that got a street name in Chicago thanks to Cochran, according to the book Streetwise Chicago.
The Argyle station -- serving the Asia on Argyle district that was transformed in the 1970s by Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, and Chinese entrepreneurs -- also dates back to 1908, according to Chicago-L.org. Published reports note that community leader Charlie Soo persuaded the CTA to take on a $250,000 renovation for the station in the 1980s, and a pagoda was added in 1991.
The pagoda and an "Asia on Argyle" sign were removed for the reconstruction of the station, and the CTA said it is working with the local alderperson and the community to relocate both.
The Lawrence station -- serving such venues as the Aragon Ballroom, the Riviera Theater, and The Green Mill -- came later, opening in 1923, according to Chicago-L.org.