Final weekend of scheduled track work requiring temporary suspension of rail service
The Chicago Transit Authority today announced that track work scheduled under the first phase of the Your New Blue project is near completion, with the last temporary weekend service disruption scheduled for next week.To allow crews to finish the remaining work, train service between the Damen and Logan Square stations will be suspended beginning 10 p.m. Friday, August 22 until 4 a.m. Monday, August 25.
For customers at the Damen, Western, California and Logan Square stations, CTA will provide free bus shuttles that will operate 24 hours a day serving each affected station. Free transfers back into the rail stations will be provided to allow customers to resume their trips. For customers with disabilities, shuttles will provide service to the closest accessible station – either Logan Square or Clark/Lake, depending on direction of travel.
Customers are strongly encouraged to allow 15-20 minutes of extra travel time when using the Blue Line O’Hare branch this weekend.
The work will require some street closures and parking restrictions near the elevated structure. There will be overnight closures of Western Avenue on Friday (10 p.m. to 10 a.m.), Saturday (10 p.m. to 10 a.m.) and Sunday (8 p.m. to 4 a.m.) and daytime lane restrictions on Saturday and Sunday. Beginning Friday morning, 2700-2715 W. Prindiville will be closed beginning at 7 a.m., followed by the closure of 2305-2316 W. Moffat St. and 2404-2425 W. Homer St. beginning at 9 p.m. All streets will reopen by 4 a.m. Monday.
During the overnight closures of Western Avenue, #49 Western buses will be detoured to nearby streets.
The Your New Blue track project includes replacing wooden rail ties, tie plates and other track materials on the Milwaukee elevated track structure between the Damen and Logan Square stops—a section of line that opened in 1895 and still sits on the original structure.
The second phase of the Your New Blue project, which will begin soon, will renovate the California, Western and Damen stations. Station renewal work starts Thursday, September 4 with the temporary closure of the California station for 42 days as crews perform extensive stationhouse and platform upgrades and repairs to the nearly 120-year-old station. Similar work will be performed on the Damen station, which is scheduled to be closed for 63 days beginning October 20. The Western station, which will receive smaller-scale upgrades as part of the project, will remain open during construction work.
Announced in December 2013, Your New Blue is a $492 million project to provide faster, smoother commutes and improved stations along the Blue Line’s O’Hare branch between the Grand and O’Hare stations. Your New Blue is the largest, most comprehensive investment in the Blue Line since the O’Hare branch was extended to the airport from Jefferson Park in 1983-84. More information about the project is available at www.transitchicago.com/yournewblue .
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