Clark/Lake station

Clark/Lake is an 'L' station located at 100/124 West Lake Street in Chicago's Loop district, and is accessed from the James R. Thompson Center and 203 North LaSalle building. It is one of the most complex stations on the 'L' system, comprising an elevated station and a subway station. The elevated station is serviced by the Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, and Purple Lines, while the subway platform is serviced by the Blue Line. In December 2014 it had an average of 17,644 weekday passenger entrances, making it the second busiest station in the 'L' system.[4] The Richard J. Daley Center, Chicago City Hall, and Chicago Title and Trust Center are also served by the station. It is the busiest station on the Loop Elevated, and the second-busiest station on the 'L' system as of December 2014. This station has been recognized as the station(s) with the most pickpockets by ABC 7 Chicago.[5]

Clark/Lake   100W 200N Clark/Lake   100W 200N
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
Clark/Lake elevated platforms
Location	100-124 West Lake Street Chicago, Illinois 60601
Coordinates	41.885767°N 87.630886°W / 41.885767; -87.630886
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority (elevated) City of Chicago (subway)
Line(s)	Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway Loop Elevated
Platforms	2 Side platforms (elevated) 1 Island platform (subway)
Tracks	4 (2 on each level)
Construction
Structure type	Subway (Blue) & Elevated (Loop)
Depth	40 ft (12 m) (Blue Line platform)
Platform levels	3
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	Elevated Platforms: September 22, 1895[1][2] Subway Platform: February 25, 1951
Rebuilt	1988–92 (elevated station)
Previous names	Lake Transfer (Subway)
Traffic
Passengers (2019)	5,830,767[3]  3.6% (CTA)
Rank	2 out of 143
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Grand toward O'Hare Blue Line Washington toward Forest Park Washington/Wells One-way operation Orange Line State/Lake toward Midway Clinton toward Harlem/Lake Green Line State/Lake toward Ashland/63rd or Cottage Grove Merchandise Mart One-way operation Purple Line Express State/Lake toward Linden Clinton One-way operation Pink Line State/Lake toward 54th/Cermak Merchandise Mart toward Kimball Brown Line State/Lake One-way operation
Former services Preceding station Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad Following station Merchandise Mart toward Milwaukee North Shore Line Randolph/Wabash One-way operation Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Randolph/Wells Closed 1995 One-way operation Orange Line State/Lake toward Midway Fifth/Lake Closed 1899 toward Austin Lake Street Elevated State/Lake toward Adams/Wabash
Track layout Elevated station Brown and Green west to Kimball and Harlem/Lake LaSalle St. Thompson Center Clark St. Purple, Orange, Green, and Pink east to Linden, Midway , Ashland/63rd, Cottage Grove, and 54th/Cermak   Subway station Lake St. Blue west to O'Hare Wells St. LaSalle St. Thompson Center Clark St. Blue east to Forest Park

History

Clark/Lake is a super station consisting of two stations that have been merged into one.[6] The original elevated station opened on September 22, 1895 as one of three stations on the Lake Street Elevated Railroad's "Wabash extension".[1][2] This extension became the Lake Street leg of the Union Loop when it was completed in 1897. The subway station opened as Lake Transfer on February 25, 1951. From 1988 to 1992, the elevated station was reconstructed, with its main entrance in the James R. Thompson Center. This allows transfers between the elevated station and the subway station without leaving the paid area, and so the stations were combined into a single station. Due to this, it is the only station that serves six of the eight lines. The Blue Line serves the subway station while the Green Line stops at both sides of the elevated station, Orange, Pink and Purple Line trains stop at the Inner Loop platform, and Brown Line trains stop at the Outer Loop platform.

Bus connections

CTA

• 22 Clark (Owl Service)
• 24 Wentworth (Weekdays only)
• 134 Stockton/LaSalle Express (Weekday Rush Hours only)
• 135 Clarendon/LaSalle Express (Weekday Rush Hours only)
• 136 Sheridan/LaSalle Express (Weekday Rush Hours only)
• 156 LaSalle (Weekdays only)

Notes and references

Notes

References

1. "Service on Lake Street "L" Extension". Chicago Daily Tribune. September 20, 1895. p. 12.
2. "Put in New Rails". Chicago Daily Tribune. September 23, 1895. p. 11.
3. "Monthly Ridership Report – December 2019" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. January 13, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
4. "Monthly Ridership Report – December 2015" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority Ridership Analysis and Reporting. January 11, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 4, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
5. https://abc7chicago.com/ctas-clark-lake-station-busiest-for-pickpocket-incidents/4918523
6. Clark/Lake Chicago-'L'.org (URL accessed September 23, 2006).

External links

Media related to Clark/Lake (CTA) at Wikimedia Commons

• Clark/Lake on CTA website
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. IL-1-E, "Union Elevated Railroad, Clark Street Station"
• Clark Street entrance to elevated line from Google Maps Street View
• Lake Street entrance to Thompson Center from Google Maps Street View
• Wells Street entrance to subway from Google Maps Street View