Max Herman/Borderless MagazineSome business owners near the new station say they haven’t seen a rebound in foot traffic nearly a month after the station’s reopening, which could worsen amid the CTA’s looming budget crisis.
Manager Aa Surinrat had been preparing for this day for months. Thai Pastry, a late-night food and drink store, had even moved locations in anticipation of it: the Argyle Red Line station’s grand reopening.
“We get more traffic in this area,” Surinrat said. “Even when we had the construction, we were still doing better.”
Since the renovated train station debuted in late July, some local businesses say they’ve seen increased foot traffic in the neighborhood, while others are still waiting to see whether the four-year-long construction was worth it.
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However, a $770 million budget shortfall looms over the future of Argyle’s Red Line station, making prospects for local businesses even more uncertain.
Since 2021, the Chicago Transit Authority has worked on rebuilding tracks between Lawrence Ave. and Bryn Mawr Ave. as part of the first phase of the $2.1 billion Red and Purple Modernization project. Construction resulted in the temporary relocation of the Argyle Red Line stop to Foster Ave.
Some community members and business owners say they are happy the renovated Argyle stop is finally complete. However, its culmination comes as the CTA faces a budget shortfall that could eliminate services for half of its rail lines if a funding solution isn’t secured, according to the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA).
“If we allow this fiscal cliff to happen and the services to be slashed, we’re going to kill the city,” said Maiko Lehman, a local resident at the Argyle station’s grand opening at the end of July.
Lehman and other protestors called on state legislators to return to Springfield for a special session to find a solution to the deficit. Without one, Lehman said the CTA is at risk of becoming less frequent and dependable for those who rely on public transportation to get around the city.
More than 40% of Uptown residents use public transportation to travel to work, according to data compiled by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.
If the CTA doesn’t receive funding to fill the budget gap, train frequencies would decrease by 10 to 25 percent, and at least four rail lines would see service suspended on some or all of the line, according to the RTA.
Tina Fassett Smith, RTA’s communications director, said service changes will be finalized after the state’s budget process ends in December. As of now, it’s undetermined which lines could be impacted by the budget shortfall, Smith said.
According to CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen, the Red and Purple Modernization Project replaced tracks built over 100 years ago and made the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stations more accessible with upgrades such as elevators, escalators and a wider platform. The new stations also feature train update display screens with real-time train information, more street lighting and unique art displays at each stop.
“Without question, the project has been long overdue and long in the making,” Leerhsen said at the station’s grand opening. “For the first time ever in the history of this neighborhood, these stations can now be accessed smoothly by all.”
Before the Red Line construction ended, the neighborhood faced various challenges, including rising costs and gentrification. Local businesses — many of which are immigrant or refugee-owned — were impacted by a 2015 construction project making Argyle Street Chicago’s first “shared street,” the COVID-19 pandemic, and anti-Asian hate in 2020.
Diana Molina, who has lived in the neighborhood since the 1990s, said the Red Line construction was needed but impacted some local businesses that couldn’t survive the decrease in foot traffic and closed down.
“I’m all about supporting local business, small business — especially mom and pop shops,” Molina said. “There were some really good ones that came and went.”
May Dang’s business, Xin He Tang, is just steps away from the Argyle station. During the construction process, Dang said there were many days when she made no sales.
“It hurt a lot of the businesses here,” Dang said. “A lot of the businesses closed down.”
Her shop offers a variety of small goods and plants, including calamansi and ginger plants.
Since the Argyle stop reopened, she said she hasn’t seen an increase in customer visits.
For now, some neighbors in Argyle are enjoying the new stop, including Ross Guthrie, who doesn’t have a car and frequently uses the CTA to get around the city. Guthrie lives a block and a half away from the newly renovated stop.
“It’s been just one thing after another for this area, especially Asia on Argyle,” Guthrie said. “You look around and you see so many shuttered businesses here on Argyle, so I’m thinking the foot traffic is really going to breathe a new life into this street.”
Katrina Pham es la reportera de audiencia y redes sociales de Borderless Magazine. Envíe un correo electrónico a Katrina a [email protected].
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