In the waning days of the mayoral campaign, candidate Miguel del Valle dropped by a Red Line Extension meeting in the Roseland community Friday. The Developing Communities Projected hosted the meeting at Lillydale Progressive Baptist Church, 10706 S. Michigan Ave.

The meeting aimed to provide an update on the Redline Extension project and to keep pressure on elected officials to ensure that the proposed multi-billion project gets funded both at the city, state and federal level.

To that end, DCP’s chair of the Red Line Oversight Committee (ROC) Eugene Taylor asked del Valle how he, as mayor, would support the project.  Del Valle, who is a six way race for the city’s top job, praised the far south side group’s community organizing efforts around the Red Line and promised that transportation, if elected, would be a priority for his administration. He noted that good transit is key to vital and stable neighborhoods.

The Red Line extension has been an unfilled promised for more than 30 years. And while there has always been talk about extending the Red Line to the city’s southern limits, the project has always been placed on the need more study shelf — effectively making the far south side a transportation desert.

After months of analysis and study, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has selected an elevated train route that traverses along the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) ending at 130^th and Stony Island near Altgeld Gardens.  The line would have four proposed stops at 103^rd, 111^th 115^th and Michigan and 130^th and Stony Island.

Community groups have been meeting to discuss proposed transit oriented developments (TODs) and other economic developments to surround the proposed stops. The meetings also have discussed proposed architectural designs for the train stations.

Stay tuned to this website for updates on the Red Line Extension project.