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Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) recently awarded a $2.4 million contract to a joint venture comprising engineering firms DMJM+Harris and Consoer Townsend Envirodyne Engineers Inc. to conduct an alternatives analysis for the proposed Circle Line project.

The line — which would connect Chicago’s major employment and special event destinations with CTA’s and Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corp.’s (Metra) lines — will increase ridership and reduce travel times, according to the authority.

"The proposed Circle Line is a way to link all of Chicago’s CTA rail lines, and all of the Metra lines, with only 6.6 miles of new or rebuilt "L" subway tracks," said CTA President Frank Kruesi in a prepared statement.

The first step in the Federal Transit Administration’s New Start federal funding process, the one-year study will examine all transit options and help CTA determine a locally preferred alternative.