Rosemont CTA station getting $1.5 million upgrade

Cook County is promising a "transformation" this summer of the lackluster Rosemont Transit Center where CTA trains and Pace buses converge.

The $1.5 million project starts in June and will finish in October. Pace will reimburse Cook County, which owns the property, for the work.

The facility is out-of-date and also needs to be modernized to accommodate new Pace express buses that will be traveling on the widened Jane Addams Tollway (I-90), Cook County Superintendent of Transportation and Highways John Yonan said.

One major change will be moving the Pace bus bays to the west and building a new, more visible sidewalk for pedestrians who are using the adjoining parking lot, operated by the Chicago Transit Authority.

"It's going to be a huge improvement," Yonan said. Many people accessing the CTA Rosemont station or the parking lot now aren't aware of a small sidewalk and often are in the way of Pace buses trying to leave the station. "There's very little room for pedestrians to navigate," he said.

Other upgrades include: marked crosswalks for riders heading from buses to the station or vice versa; designated stopping areas for the numerous shuttle buses that drop off and pick up passengers at the transit center; and an improved kiss-n-ride drop-off and pick-up area with signs.

The hope is to encourage more people to take public transit, Yonan said. "There's so much potential when you have all these modes of transportation merging here," he said.

The CTA is planning to resurface the parking lot as well, Yonan said.