Irving Park station (CTA Blue Line)

Not to be confused with the Irving Park station on the Brown Line.

Irving Park is an 'L' station on the CTA's Blue Line. The station is located in the median of the Kennedy Expressway in the Irving Park neighborhood, though it draws its name from its cross street. Irving Park is one of two stations on the Blue Line that stops in an expressway median where the entrance is below the platform; Rosemont is the other, specifically beneath the westbound lane of the Kennedy Expressway.^[2] The station opened in 1970 as a part of the Kennedy extension of the Milwaukee Elevated from Logan Square to Jefferson Park.

Irving Park   4000N 4100W
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
General information
Location	4131 West Irving Park Road Chicago, Illinois 60641
Coordinates	41.952964°N 87.729263°W / 41.952964; -87.729263
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)	O'Hare Branch
Platforms	1 Island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	UP-NW at Irving Park CTA Buses
Construction
Structure type	Expressway median
Bicycle facilities	Yes
History
Opened	February 1, 1970; 54 years ago (1970-02-01)
Rebuilt	2016; 8 years ago (2016)
Passengers
2022	566,895[1]  12.5%
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Montrose toward O'Hare Blue Line Addison toward Forest Park
Track layout Legend I-90 / I-94 (Kennedy Expy.) Blue to O'Hare Pulaski Rd. IL 19 (Irving Park Rd.) Blue to Forest Park Kennedy Expy. reversible lanes
Location

History

The Irving Park station opened as part of the Kennedy extension of the Blue Line to Jefferson Park in 1970. Built as other nearby stations, according to the plans of architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Irving Park is different; it does not pass under the crossing of the Kennedy Expressway and streets but it spans up to Irving Park Road and Pulaski Road. This means that the main entrance is located under the tracks and not above as in other stations located in the median of the Kennedy Expressway. The layout of the station is also distinguished by the length of its banks, it can accommodate 10-car trains as opposed to the 8 of the other stations in the plan. This is explained by the presence of an auxiliary entrance on Pulaski Road.

On February 10, 1998, the Chicago Transit Authority temporarily closed the entrance on Pulaski Road. It reopened in October 1998 with the agent replaced with an ATM.

Bus and rail connections

Metra

• Union Pacific Northwest Line

CTA

• 53 Pulaski (Owl Service)
• 54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd (Weekday Rush Hours only)
• 80 Irving Park

References

1. "Annual Ridership Report – Calendar Year 2022" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. February 2, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
2. Rosemont Blue Line (Chicago "L".org)

External links

Media related to Irving Park (CTA Blue Line) at Wikimedia Commons

• Irving Park (O'Hare Line) Station Page
• Pulaski Road entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Irving Park Road entrance from Google Maps Street View