CTA Cancels March 10 - 12 Temporary Weekend Closure of Kimball & Francisco Brown Line Stations;
Announces Two Additional Weekend Closures
Bus Shuttle From Kimball to Western
Canceled for March 10 - 12 The Chicago Transit Authority has canceled the temporary weekend closure of the Kimball and Francisco stations on the Brown Line scheduled for this weekend, March 10 - 12. Both the Kimball and Francisco stations will remain open for service. As a result, the bus shuttle scheduled to operate from Kimball to Western over the weekend is also canceled. The construction work planned for the weekend involved excavation, which is particularly sensitive to weather conditions. As a result of this week's heavy rain and more rain predicted in the forecast, the ground at the Kedzie and Rockwell stations is too wet for the work to proceed this weekend as planned.
Both the Kimball and Francisco stations will close as scheduled next weekend, March 17 - 19. During the temporary weekend closures at Kimball and Francisco, Brown Line trains operate between the Loop and Western station. Bus shuttle service is provided to customers free of charge from Western station to Kimball station from 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday as a substitute for rail service. The bus shuttle makes stops at the Western station, Rockwell and Lawrence, Sacramento and Lawrence, Kedzie and Lawrence, Kedzie and Wilson, and at the Kimball station.
In addition, CTA has scheduled two additional weekend closures of Kimball and Francisco March 24 -26 and March 31 - April 2. CTA will again operate a bus shuttle between Western station and Kimball station on the Brown Line throughout the temporary weekend closures.
A total of 10 weekend closures are needed for construction work at Rockwell, Francisco, Kedzie and Kimball. The first two closures occurred February 24 - 26 and March 3 - 5. The weekend closures allow crews at Rockwell and Kedzie to demolish the old stations and foundation, and install the new foundations. This work can only be done when trains are not running on live track. On February 20, both the Kedzie and Rockwell stations closed for reconstruction and will remain closed for to six months.
# # #