The Chicago Transit Authority is giving one of its most tourist-friendly routes a South Side upgrade, extending and renaming its No. 10 bus so it will reach the Obama Presidential Center and run year-round beginning May 23. The change, timed ahead of the center’s planned June 2026 opening, closes roughly a three-quarter-mile gap in service between the Museum of Science and Industry and the new campus in Jackson Park. Riders will still board downtown at Water Tower Place on the Near North Side, but under the new plan the bus will run express for downtown-to-museum trips before continuing down Stony Island to 63rd Street.
Route details and timeline
The Chicago Transit Board signed off on the move on April 8, renaming the run the "#10 Obama Presidential Center/Museum of Science & Industry Express" and directing it to operate express from downtown to the Museum of Science and Industry before heading south along Stony Island Avenue to terminate at Stony Island and 63rd Street, according to CTA. The agency says the extension will close a ¾-mile transit gap between the museum and the Obama Presidential Center and will tie into existing services including the #2 Hyde Park Express, #6 Jackson Park Express, #15 Jeffery Local, #28 Stony Island, #59 59th/61st and #63 63rd, along with nearby Metra Electric service. CTA officials are pitching the tweak as a shift from a summertime shuttle to a full-time connection built around the center’s opening.
Officials call it a small but meaningful link
CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen said, "What may seem like a short extension, just three-quarters of a mile, represents something far greater: a connection between two world-class cultural destinations," in a statement, according to the CTA. Agency leaders say the routing is meant to knit downtown tourist traffic to Jackson Park and to give more reliable public-transit access as the Obama Presidential Center comes online.
What riders should know
The expanded #10 begins service on Saturday, May 23 and will operate year-round instead of only between Memorial Day and Labor Day, as reported by CBS Chicago. The Obama Foundation says the Obama Presidential Center is preparing to open in June 2026, and CTA officials have framed the routing change as one piece of the transit puzzle for handling that expected influx of visitors. Riders looking for exact stops and schedules should check CTA schedules and trackers before May 23 so they are ready when the new service kicks in.
