Bryn Mawr is an 'L' station on the CTA's Red Line. It is located at 1119 West Bryn Mawr Avenue in the Bryn Mawr Historic District of the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The adjacent stations are Thorndale, located about one half mile to the north, and Berwyn (temporarily closed), about three eighths of a mile to the south. Four tracks pass through the station, but the two western tracks are currently out of service for reconstruction. There is an island platform in the center of the tracks which currently only serves southbound trains; Purple Line weekday rush hour express service pass through the station on the same tracks used by the Red Line but do not stop. The name "Bryn Mawr" comes from the SEPTA Regional Rail (and former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line) station located northwest of Philadelphia in the community of the same name. The name came to the area in the 1880s by Edgewater developer John Lewis Cochran,[2] and is Welsh for "Big Hill."

Bryn Mawr
 
5600N
1200W
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
Southbound only temporary platform in place until 2025
General information
Location1119 West Bryn Mawr Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60660
Coordinates41°59′01″N 87°39′32″W / 41.983572°N 87.658862°W / 41.983572; -87.658862
Owned byChicago Transit Authority
Line(s)North Side Main Line
Platforms1 island platform (temporarily one island platform with one side unused and one temporary side platform)
Tracks4 (two temporarily out of service)
Construction
Structure typeElevated
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleStarting 2025
History
OpenedMay 16, 1908; 116 years ago (1908-05-16)
Rebuilt1921, 1974, 2021–25
Previous namesEdgewater
Passengers
2022634,762[1]Increase 22.6%
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station
Thorndale
One-way operation
Red Line Argyle
Berwyn
Temporarily closed
     Purple Line does not stop here
Former services
Preceding station Milwaukee Road Following station
North Edgewater Chicago – Evanston Argyle Park
towards Chicago
Location
Map

History

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A depot on the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad Evanston route was constructed at Bryn Mawr in about 1886.[3] When the Northwestern Elevated Railroad was extended north from Wilson in 1908, taking over from Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, they opened a station at Bryn Mawr called Edgewater Station. This station was rebuilt to a design by architect Charles P. Rawson when the tracks between Wilson and Howard were elevated onto an embankment in 1921 – the name was changed to Bryn Mawr soon after.[4] The station was extensively renovated in 1974, and an escalator was added. In 2006, the signage at Bryn Mawr was replaced, and three-sided pylons which display maps and schedules were installed in the station house and on the platform.

Services

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Bryn Mawr is used by passengers traveling between the Edgewater neighborhood and other parts of Chicago. The station is open 24 hours a day. Trains service Bryn Mawr every four to ten minutes on weekdays, and every six to ten minutes on weekends. Nighttime "owl" service operates every 15 minutes or more.

The station house at Bryn Mawr is located on the south side of Bryn Mawr Avenue. An auxiliary exit is on the opposite side of the street. Outside of the station house are three granite compass roses to help exiting passengers orient themselves. The fare controls at Bryn Mawr are located at ground level inside the station house; past the fare controls, passengers take stairs or an escalator to the island platform. Bicycle storage is available at Bryn Mawr.

Red & Purple Modernization Project

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Station platform before construction

The Bryn Mawr station is being rebuilt as part of this project. The station will receive new wider platforms, new signage, new lights, new security cameras, and new elevators. Reconstruction began in May 2021 and will be completed in early 2025.[5][6][7] During Stage A of the reconstruction, the northbound tracks were closed with northbound trains using the southbound side of the current platform and southbound Red Line trains stopping at a temporary side platform. Unlike a similar renovation simultaneously occurring at Argyle, where both platforms used a common temporary entrance, northbound trains used the original entrance while southbound trains used temporary entrance half a block north, not connected to each other inside the paid area.[8] During Stage B (2023-2025), the two western tracks are out of service with the eastern tracks carrying all trains, with a platform located between the tracks. However, only southbound trains stop at Bryn Mawr since there is no space to build a northbound platform.[9]

Bus connections

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CTA

  • 36 Broadway [10]
  • 84 Peterson (Eastbound buses only) [11]

References

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  1. ^ "Annual Ridership Report – Calendar Year 2022" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. February 2, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  2. ^ "Cochran's Third Addition to Edgewater". Edgewater Historical Society. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  3. ^ Bryn Mawr - The Historical Perspective. The Edgewater Historical Society (URL accessed September 24, 2006).
  4. ^ Bryn Mawr. Chicago-"L".org (URL accessed September 24, 2006).
  5. ^ "CTA unveils new Red Line station designs - Chicago Sun-Times". 28 January 2021.
  6. ^ "The CTA has unveiled the designs for four renovated Red Line stations".
  7. ^ "CTA Red & Purple Modernization: Lawrence to Bryn Mawr Modernization Project".
  8. ^ "Customer Alert: Bryn Mawr Temporary Station Opens". CTA. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  9. ^ "Red and Purple Modernization Program".
  10. ^ "36 Broadway (Bus Route Info) - CTA".
  11. ^ "84 Peterson (Bus Route Info)".
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