Halsted
Garfield
5500S
320E
320E
Garfield is the most southern still open stop where the two green line branches to Cottage Grove and Ashland/63rd run concurrently. The two branches don't split until four blocks south at 59th Street to run their respective short routes west and east along 63rd Street and there used to be a station at 58th just before the split with an island platform, making transfers easier. The 58th Station was open until January 9, 1994 when the entire green line was closed for a two-year rehabilitation. The station was one that didn't reopen. It was decided that 58th was two close to Garfield. The platform stayed, abandoned until February 2012 when it was removed (History on Chicago-L.org).
Today's, modern Garfield Station opened on July 16, 2001 replacing the original 1893 station house and a platform with a canopy dating from around 1900 (Chicago-L) which ran south from Garfield Blvd. The station house still exists looking abandoned across the median from today's station on the southside of Garfield Blvd. There is a plaque for its historical value. All traces of the original platform have been removed, replaced with a standard modern station that feels slightly more modern than other Southside Green Line stations renovated in the 1990s. The biggest difference is the platforms are made of concrete and not wood. The sides of the platform have green fencing and modern white supports hold up separate canopies (no beams run over the tracks like at other green line stations) and cover three-quarters of the platforms. The station house is located on the north side of Garfield Blvd. First there are the turnstiles and these are followed by an elevator (the tops of the shafts look especially tall) up to each platform. There is than a staircase up to the southbound platform and a staircase/up escalator to the northbound.
Dan Ryan Reconstruction Project Shuttle Bus Transfer Point: Starting on May 19, 2013 the Dan Ryan Line is closed until October 2013 for a full reconstruction. During this reconstruction Red Line Trains are diverted over the Southside elevated to Ashland/63. Garfield has become the transfer point for Express Shuttle Buses farther south. Seperate Routes R95, R87, R79 and R69 run non-stop for Garfield to the respective closed red line stations (buses numbered after the streets at the stations). To facilitate these buses a new bus loop with a line of 4 stops have been built in a former vacant lot between the station going east to Calumet Avenue. The buses stop at these stops in an unusual order by ridership with the R95, followed by the R79, then R87, and finally the R69 (that seems to be the only route with a low enough ridership to have a regular non articulated bus that were running on the other routes). Two new temporary covered wide wooden staircases that lead off of each platform down to street level to turnstiles provide additional entrances to handle the larger crowds. A final oddity about the construction at the station is all entrances to 'L' trains are completely free. Everyone must pass through a turnstile but these have been left unlocked with signs saying to go through and disks that say Free Entry on the normal ChicagoCard targets.
Photos 1-12 taken on 3 August, 2011, 13-54 on 4 July, 2013
