Red Line Extension team reports progress: design-build underway, community offices and DBE outreach

Bill Mooney, CTA chief infrastructure officer, and Juan Pablo Prieto, director of diversity programs, briefed the board on the Red Line Extension program, describing a suite of contracts and community investments now active as the project moves from planning into construction.

Mooney said the Red Line Extension program is composed of about 20 contracts, led by a design-build award that he said totals roughly $2.9 billion to date. He described community offices established for outreach: a project office in a renovated former off-track betting facility and a community office at a former auto body shop that Mooney said will open to the public in early November. "We wanted to have space that was welcoming, inviting," Mooney said, adding that staff will hold workforce and DBE outreach events there.

The agency reported advanced-demolition activity across dozens of parcels. Mooney said CTA had acquired 85 structures for demolition and that a large share were already removed; he estimated about 76 structures were fully demolished and several remaining parcels required more remediation. The demolished parcels have been graded, fenced and held under property management until the design-build team is ready.

On equity goals, Prieto said CTA had awarded more than $260 million to 116 distinct DBE firms on the Red Line Extension program as of July 31, 2025, with 25 of those firms new to CTA contracting. For the design portion of the design-build contract — which carries a 25% DBE goal — the agency reported $35 million awarded to distinct DBEs (about 16.6% of the design goal). Prieto also noted a workforce goal on the design hours requiring 10% of design hours be performed by residents of economically disadvantaged areas; the contractor is currently reporting 3.3% toward that goal and is continuing outreach.

Mooney described geotechnical fieldwork, tree surveys (with a commitment to replace removed trees on an inch-for-inch trunk-thickness basis), and community meet-the-contractor sessions. He said agencies and local partners have been invited to planning conversations, and CTA staff are running sign-up drives and certification assistance for DBE firms and career seekers in neighborhoods along the corridor.

Why it matters: The Red Line Extension is CTA's largest ongoing capital program; the project team reported progress on advanced demolition, required environmental and geotechnical work, early DBE contracting and outreach, and community-facing office space intended to anchor local workforce and small-business participation.