Renderings have been revealed as part of the groundbreaking for the major renovation of Terminal 3 at O’Hare International Airport. News on the work broke over a year ago when it began collecting funding for the added space and updated aesthetic. The project is being led by the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) with an undisclosed set of designers and engineers.
Groundbreaking of Elevate T3 via CDA
Rendering of Elevate T3 via CDA
The groundbreaking was held yesterday with various city representatives and Mayor Johnson attending it as well, giving further insight into the $300 million project. The renderings show a new aesthetic with wood slats, updated terrazzo and more, seemingly inline with previous rendering we have seen of the new global terminal.
Rendering of Elevate T3 via CDA
Rendering of Elevate T3 via CDA
According to the CDA, the project will:
- Reconfigure the existing two TSA checkpoints into one central screening area.
- Expand the passenger corridor between Concourse K and L to be triple the current width.
- Expand the hold rooms of gates K1 and L2A.
- Reconfigure the baggage claim area along with other baggage facilities and systems within the terminal.
- Add roughly 10,000 square feet of new concession and amenity space.
- Renovate the restrooms and add new family restrooms.
- Improvements to the building’s interior and exterior structure and systems for increased energy efficiency.
These changes will come with new ceilings that will improve the overall look of the spaces and add warmth while modernizing the existing spaces. Improved way-finding, screens, signage, and colors will also help improve the passenger experience while also falling in line with some of the airport’s most recent branding guidelines.
Rendering of Elevate T3 via CDA
Rendering of Elevate T3 via CDA
Construction is set to begin soon, having now received $90 million in financing from the federal infrastructure bill as we covered earlier this year. Dubbed ‘Elevate T3’, work at the terminal will be carried out by a partnership with Clark Construction and W.E. O’Neil, with all work set to wrap up by the summer of 2027.
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Is City 🏙️ of Chicago going to discuss on O’Hare express Train to and from Chicagos loop ➿ in near future.
There are already train tracks for Metra’s North Central Service that runs from O’Hare to Union Station with only 5 stops in between. Why it only runs 6 times per weekday in each direction and not on weekends is probably due to RTA being a poorly run organization.
True that.
It’s because Metra shares the NC tracks with Canadian National and no weekend s was part of the trackage rights deal they made . Also, since its inception it has always been one of, if not the lowest passenger volume lines Metra has. Simply no demand for additional trains. As a former 25+ year resident of the area it serves, we were just thankful to have a train at all.
The only route for truly high-speed rail would be the CN down to the former Altenheim Subdivision along the Eisenhower. The grade-separation is nearly 100%, although updating old bridges where elevated would be a must east of Central. At ORD, a dedicated station along the MATRA system or linked into T5 is a must. The current station is too remote and service too infrequent to be a real option.
No never. All trains now run faster than driving the Kennedy so that makes them express.
While there was a lot of discussion earlier under prior administrations, the effects COVID has had on transit, along with a general shift in priorities towards neighborhood services, probably shifted the focus away in the short-run. In other words, I think Chicagoans are more concerned about trains arriving on time than an express service.
$100M a year for cosmetics, taking 3 years. This sounds just like the Kennedy (90/94) kickback to unions.
Hey Steve, I can’t speak on unions, but the timeline is partially due to the way it needs to be phased to maintain the terminal’s current operations.
one word – unions