CTA awards $25.6 million contract for O'Hare branch rehab project

The Chicago Transit Board last week awarded a $25.6 million contract to construction firm F.H. Paschen and S.N. Nielsen to renovate five O'Hare branch Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) stations.

The renovation is part of a $492 million modernization project known as "Your New Blue," first announced in December 2013.

The contract also is part of a $43 million station improvement plan that will provide rehab work for five other stations. Improvements to other stations include a new elevator and stairway at Addison, as well as improvements to platforms and platform canopies at Addison, Irving Park, Montrose, Harlem and Cumberland.

Initial design work for the improvements is planned for this spring, with all station project work substantially completed by 2016, according to a CTA press release.