3/4/04
The CTA will close the Blue Line Dearborn and O'Hare branch subway for a brief period beginning at 10 p.m. Saturday, March 6 until 2 p.m. Sunday, March 7. 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 closure is scheduled during off peak hours and is 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, Blue Line stations between Western on the O'Hare branch and UIC/Halsted on the Forest Park branch will be closed.
A bus shuttle will be implemented to transport customers between these stations making stops at Western, Damen, Division, Chicago, Grand, Clark/Lake, Washington, Monroe, Jackson, LaSalle, Clinton and UIC/Halsted. Note: The LaSalle, Clinton and UIC/Halsted stations will only be affected by the closures until 6 a.m. Sunday. After 6 a.m., the bus shuttle will only travel as far as Jackson.
Customers are asked to allow up to 30 minutes in additional travel time. A similar project was completed in the State Street Red Line subway over the weekend of February 21 ? 22.
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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