Our Projects
Grade Separations
Central Avenue and Belt Railway of Chicago Grade Separation
Topline Community Benefits
Reduced roadway congestion and improved safety by eliminating delay to nearly 2,500 vehicles per day.
Mitigation of collision potential between vehicles and trains.
Improved emergency services for nearby-rail communities.
Project Funding Needs

Project Location Map
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Municipality
Chicago
Project Area
North Limit | Archer Ave S |
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South Limit | W 54th St. |
East Limit | S. Luna Ave. |
West Limit | S Parkside Ave. |
Project Overview & Impact
Daily, 20,800 vehicles pass through the crossing. Midway Airport borders the southeast corner of 55th Street and Central Avenue. This project will reduce roadway congestion and improve safety at this location. The grade crosing separation will eliminate delay to over 600 vehicles daily, resulting in alleviation of 6,700 annual motorist hours of delay. It will also eliminate the potential for collisions between vehicles and trains.
This location is designated a “911 Critical Crossing.” This is a critical location for emergency services to access communities that have high frequency of train movements or delays. The grade separation will eliminate this issue.
The project will consider eliminating the at-grade crossing of Central Avenue and two Belt Railway of Chicago (BRC) tracks located 330 feet south of Archer Avenue and 800 feet north of 55th Street. This will be accomplished by creating either an overpass or underpass for vehicles using Central Avenue at this location. See the project website for additional information at: centralbrc.org/

Project Benefits
The Central Avenue and Belt Railway of Chicago Grade Separation will improve safety and public health outcomes for residents, focusing on community access and mobility.
Chicago, IL Community Areas: Garfield Ridge and Clearing
The project will boost travel times and efficiencies for multiple roadway users, including Midway Airport users. As well, potentially reduced collisions will provide longer term cost savings on infrastructure repairs.
The grade separation will reduce automobile and truck delay at this location, improving local air quality and reducing fuel consumption.
Get Involved
If your organization is interested in working with the CREATE Program, please refer to our Bid Advertisements and RFP page to apply for active projects.
We also encourage you to attend our Get On Board: Business-to-Business networking events, Union Outreach events, and other relevant events to learn more about the Program and build connections. Please see our Events page for the latest information on upcoming events.
CREATE partners also fund on-the-job training on construction projects for entry-level positions who have graduated from IDOT’s Highway Construction Careers Training Program (HCCTP). For more information on the program, please click here to learn more.
Project Status
Phase I | Underway |
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Phase II | Upcoming |
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Phase III | Upcoming |
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Project Status Definitions:
– Phase I: Environmental & Preliminary Engineering
– Phase II: Final Design (Plans, Specifications & Estimates)
– Phase III: Construction

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