Herald Washington Library - CTA Brown, Pink, Orange and Purple Line Express Lines

Herald Washington Library: State/Van Buren, is the newest station on the loop and opened on June 27, 1997 and was built shortly after the new library alongside the station opened in 1991. It replaces two stations formerly nearby, most directly the State/Van Buren Station which closed on 1973 and partially the Dearborn/Van Buren station which closed in 1948 but its station houses were attached to the end of the State/Van Buren platform and remained open during rush hours. Today the station is a transfer point between loop elevated lines (with a free crossunder) as well as a farecard only transfer to the Red and Blue Lines at their (also connected) Jackson Station The two concrete side platforms have an unusual modern design to match the vintage looking brown brick of the new library building. There is brown fencing and two different green canopies that cover both the tracks (with a glass skylight right in the middle) where the stations two exits are. The main one covers about three cars is towards the back of the platform. Here is a single staircase and elevator leads down to a mezzanine area beneath the tracks with a free crossunder. The turnstiles in turn lead out to up escalator/staircase up to the mezzanine on the northside of Van Buren Street between State Street and Plymouth Court alongside Pritzker Park beneath a canopy that extends over the entire sidewalk. This is also where the elevator down to the mezzanine elevator is, which has a second shaft in the same brick tower just east of the first shaft (with the turnstiles in between) up to the Inner Loop (Pink, Purple, and Orange Lines) platform. There is just a staircase up from the opposite side of the street.

A much shorter canopy covers the extreme western ends of the platforms and tracks for maybe half a car length. Here there are high turnstiles on both platforms. These staircases leave the elevated in different directions. The one on the Inner Loop (Pink, Purple and Orange Lines) platform leads down to the NW corner of Federal and Van Burn Streets. The Outer Loop's (Brown line) leads down to the SW corner of Dearborn and Van Buren.
Photos 1-12 taken on 15 July, 2016, 13 on 15 July, 2009, 14-29 on 17 July, 2009, 30-37 on 3 August, 2011, 38-45 on 4 August, 2011, 46-49: 3 July, 2013

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