18th station

For the Metra station, see 18th Street station (Illinois).

18th is an 'L' station on the CTA's Pink Line. It is located at 1710 West 18th Street in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station is decorated with colorful murals painted by local artists from Pilsen.

18th   1800S 1700W
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
General information
Location	1710 West 18th Street Chicago, Illinois 60608
Coordinates	41.857955°N 87.669178°W / 41.857955; -87.669178
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)	Cermak Branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	April 28, 1896; 128 years ago (1896-04-28)
Rebuilt	1991–1993; 31 years ago (1993)
Passengers
2022	357,240[1]  27.3%
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Damen toward 54th/Cermak Pink Line Polk toward Loop (Clark/Lake)
Former services Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Damen toward 54th/Cermak Blue Line Cermak branch Polk toward O'Hare Wood Closed 1957 toward Oak Park Douglas branch 14th Place Closed 1951 toward Marshfield
Track layout Legend Pink to the Loop 17th St. 18th St. Pink to 54th/Cermak
Location

History

18th station in 1951

18th station opened on April 28, 1896, as part of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad's Douglas Park branch.^[2] From May 1991 until March 1993, the original station was demolished and rebuilt.^[3] On June 25, 2006, the 18th station, along with all other stations on the 54th/Cermak branch of the Blue Line, became part of the Pink Line. Rather than continuing east on the Blue Line through the Dearborn subway to O'Hare north of the Polk station, trains run north over a section of track on Paulina Avenue and then run on the same tracks as the Green Line west of the Ashland station before circling clockwise around the Loop and returning to 54th/Cermak via the same route.

In 2016, the Chicago Central Area Commission's proposed the construction of the Connector Transitway which would terminate at 18th.^[4]

In 2020, parts of the 1998 murals created by local artists were removed after they had been vandalised, after which the CTA has worked with the local community to restore the murals.^[5][6]

Bus connections

CTA

• 18 16th/18th

References

1. "Annual Ridership Report – Calendar Year 2022" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. February 2, 2023. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
2. "Douglas Park Branch Opened". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 28, 1896. p. 5.
3. 18th. Chicago-"L".org (URL accessed September 30, 2006).
4. Zotti, Ed (August 17, 2016). "The Case for Rail Transit Expansion in the Chicago Central Area" (PDF). Chicago: Chicago Central Area Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
5. Peña, Mauricio (2020-02-18). "After Crews Paint Over 18th Street Station Mural, CTA Looking For Artists To Restore It". Block Club Chicago. Archived from the original on 2020-02-24. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
6. Ballesteros, Carlos (2019-12-06). "Pilsen CTA 18th Street Pink Line mural whitewashing draws online ire". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2020-08-10.

External links

Media related to 18th (CTA) at Wikimedia Commons

• 18th station page at CTA official website
• 18th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View