11/26/03
The State Street Thanksgiving Parade will detour 16 CTA bus routes off State Street and adjacent downtown streets Thursday, November 27. The parade will start at 8:30 a.m. and proceed north on State from Congress to Randolph.
Preparations for the parade will close State between Washington and Randolph beginning at 12 a.m. Thursday. Staging for the parade will close State from Roosevelt to Congress from 5 a.m. until 1 p.m. Additionally, all east and west streets between Roosevelt and Wacker will be closed where they cross State from 8 a.m. until noon. As a result, buses operating in the area of the parade will be detoured from early morning until about 1 p.m.
The affected routes are the #6 Jackson Park Express, #10 Museum of Science & Industry, #14 Jeffery Express, #20 Madison, #28 Stony Island Express, #29 State, #36 Broadway, #56 Milwaukee, #60 Blue Island/26th, #62 Archer, #124 Navy Pier, #126 Jackson, #145 Wilson/Michigan Express, #146 Inner Drive/Michigan Express, #147 Outer Drive Express and #151 Sheridan.
While State Street is closed, buses on the #6, #10, #145, #146 and #147 routes will operate northbound and southbound on Michigan between Wacker and Congress (#146 runs to Balbo). #14, #28, #29, #36, #62 and #151 buses will operate northbound on Dearborn and southbound on Clark.
#20, #56 and #60 buses will end their eastbound trips at Washington and Clark before returning to Madison to resume westbound service.
#124 buses will operate eastbound via Washington, Dearborn, Illinois and the regular route to Navy Pier. Westbound #124 buses will operate via Grand, Clark, Madison and the regular route to Union Station and the Ogilvie Transportation Center. #126 buses will end their eastbound trips at Dearborn before returning to Adams to resume westbound service.
There will be additional CTA supervisory personnel on hand in the downtown area to assist customers.
Of special note: On Wednesday, November 26, maximum length trains will be scheduled throughout midday hours on the Blue, Brown, Green and Orange Lines to accommodate early work dismissals.
Additionally, CTA service to both major Chicago airports will provide Thanksgiving travelers with reliable and economical transportation throughout the holiday period. Air travel is expected to be heavy from Wednesday, November 26 through Sunday, November 30.
Air travelers can reach O'Hare Airport on the Blue Line in 45 minutes from stations in the Dearborn subway downtown, where free connections can be made from all other 'L' lines serving the Loop. They can also transfer to the Blue Line from all east-west bus routes between Grand and Foster, and from most north-south routes.
Midway Airport is served by Orange Line trains, which make the trip from the Loop 'L' downtown in about 30 minutes. As with the Blue Line, free connections can be made to Orange Line trains from other 'L' lines downtown, and customers can transfer to the Orange Line from most bus routes serving the Southwest Side.
All CTA buses and trains will operate on a Sunday/holiday schedule for the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday.
Seasonal service also will begin for the CTA's #10 Museum of Science & Industry route, which operates on weekends and holidays (except Christmas Day) year-round and on weekdays from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day from North Michigan Avenue and State Street downtown to the museum at 57th and the lakefront in Jackson Park. Buses operate every 15 minutes on weekends, Thanksgiving and New Year's Day and every 30 minutes on weekdays from November 28 through January 2.
For information on all CTA service, call 836-7000 (any local area code) or visit the web site at www.transitchicago.com.
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