2/21/02
Reconstruction of the 54th/Cermak Blue Line terminal at 54th/Cermak in Cicero will require the CTA to shift bus and train service to a temporary, accessible station entrance about two blocks farther east at Laramie, starting Monday, February 25. The temporary entrance will serve until late this year, when a new terminal is scheduled to open at 54th Avenue.
The shift in service will allow the CTA to expand its rail yard at 54th/Cermak. The new rail yard will have the capacity to hold 102 rail cars, and will include a new transportation center, rail car washer, track and signal maintenance building and switchman's building. The work is being performed as part of the agency's $482 million rehabilitation of the Cermak (Douglas) branch of the Blue Line.
The temporary entrance at Laramie is accessible to customers with disabilities and provides the same amenities in a regular terminal, including a Customer Assistant's booth, fare card vending machines, inbound/outbound platforms capable of berthing eight-car trains, and canopies to protect customers from the elements.
While the temporary entrance is in service at Laramie, the current train schedule on the Cermak branch will remain in effect Monday through Friday, with the first train leaving the terminal for the Loop at 4:03 a.m., and the last train leaving Clark/Lake at 1:20 a.m. and returning to the terminal at Laramie by 1:56 a.m.
CTA and Pace buses will serve the new temporary entrance as follows:
#21 Cermak buses can be boarded ? block south of the Blue Line on Cermak.
#25 West Cermak and N60 Blue Island/26th buses can be boarded in the driveway adjacent to the Blue Line tracks at Laramie.
Pace #304, #305 (northbound) and #322 buses can be boarded on the east side of Laramie just north of the rail crossing.
Pace #305 (southbound) and #767 buses can be boarded on the west side of Laramie just north of the rail crossing.
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