02/16/04
The CTA will close the Red and Blue Line Loop subways for brief periods on upcoming weekends. The State Street subway (Red Line) will close from 9 p.m. Saturday, February 21 until 1 p.m. Sunday, February 22. The Dearborn Street subway (Blue Line) will close over a weekend in March. The CTA will provide alternative service to minimize inconvenience for customers. The closures will allow for installation of a wireless telecommunications system.
The 16-hour closures are scheduled during off peak hours and are designed to allow the installers to do the work faster and more efficiently than if it was scheduled around regular service.
While the communication cable is being installed in the State Street subway the weekend of February 21-22, Red Line trains will be rerouted over the elevated structure between Fullerton and Roosevelt (accessible).
Red Line trains will make stops at Chicago, Merchandise Mart (accessible), Clark/Lake (accessible), State/Lake, Randolph/Wabash, Madison/Wabash, Adams/Wabash and Roosevelt. Customers can transfer to Brown, Orange, Green and Blue Line trains at Clark/Lake.
In addition, a bus shuttle will supplement rail service between Fullerton and Roosevelt serving stations at Fullerton, North/Clybourn, Clark/Division, Chicago (accessible), Grand, Lake (accessible), Washington (accessible), Monroe, Jackson (accessible), Harrison and Roosevelt (accessible).
Customers are asked to allow up to 30 minutes in additional travel time. Details for the March closure of the Dearborn Street subway will be provided as plans are solidified.
The conduit installation in the Loop subways is a vital step toward a wireless telecommunications system in the CTA subway system that includes subway tunnels, underground stations and station passageways and will enable customers to access wireless devices such as cell phones, e-mail, wireless internet, paging and text messaging throughout the CTA's 11.4-mile subway system.
For details about all CTA service, call 836-7000 (all local area codes) or visit the CTA web site at www.transitchicago.com.
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