2/10/05
The Chicago Transit Authority has scheduled a community meeting to discuss the planned renovations of the Belmont and Fullerton rail stations.
CTA staff will present an overview of the Brown Line capacity expansion project with specific emphasis on work planned for the Belmont and Fullerton stations.
The meeting will take place Wednesday, February 16, 2005 from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, 836 West Wellington, Olson Auditorium.
The Brown Line capacity expansion project includes: rehabilitating 18 Brown Line stations; lengthening station platforms to accommodate eight rather than six-car trains; providing for station enhancements to meet the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); upgrading or replacing traction power, signal and communication equipment; and reducing the number of slow zones on the line.
Work is already underway to upgrade the Brown Line's signal system from Kimball to Western, which involves installing signal equipment along the tracks, installing new crossing gates and circuitry where the Brown Line crosses at street level and rehabilitating Kimball Tower where signals control switches and direct trains.
Operating between downtown and the Northwest Side, the Brown Line was originally constructed in two phases opening for service in 1900 and 1907. The line is the third busiest of CTA's rail lines, serving more than 66,000 customers each weekday, with 19 stations from Kimball on the north to the downtown Chicago Loop.
Information on all CTA service can be found by calling 836-7000 from any local area code or on the web site at www.transitchicago.com.
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