CTA to provide extra service for St. Patrick’s Day events; Upcoming impacts at Addison Blue include three-week partial station closure
The Chicago Transit Authority is notifying customers of upcoming events requiring temporary changes to both bus and rail service, including extra service along seven rail routes for St. Patrick’s Day events throughout Chicago this weekend, as well as the upcoming partial platform closure at the Addison Blue Line station as part of the Your New Blue program.
The Merchandise Mart main entrance/exit will also be temporarily closed from Saturday night until Monday morning. The station will remain open at all times.
CTA is also providing extra service to upcoming events at the United Center.
St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations
In anticipation of increased ridership due to this weekend’s St. Patrick’s Day events including the parade and the Chicago River Dyeing, CTA is providing extra rail service across several rail lines.
Rail Service
Red Line
Friday: Longer trains will operate until midnight.
Saturday: Longer trains will operate all day and more frequently from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Blue Line
Friday: Longer trains will operate until midnight.
Saturday: Longer trains will operate from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Brown Line
Friday: Longer trains will operate until midnight.
Saturday: Longer trains will operate from 8 a.m. until 10:30 p.m.
Orange Line
Friday: Longer trains will operate until midnight.
Saturday: Longer trains will operate from 8 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.
Green Line
Saturday: Longer trains will operate from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Pink Line
Saturday: Longer trains will operate from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Purple Line
Saturday: Longer trains will operate from 8 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., from Howard.
Bus Service
Columbus Drive from Roosevelt to Monroe and Congress Plaza will be closed to all vehicular traffic due to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade from on Saturday, March 12 from approximately 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. In addition, Wacker Drive will be closed from Columbus to State at approximately 9 a.m. due to the Dyeing of the Chicago River. During these times, CTA buses will be rerouted in the immediate area including:
- #6 Jackson Park
- #10 Museum of Science & Industry
- #J14 Jeffery Jump
- #124 Navy Pier
- #126 Jackson
- #146 Inner Drive/Michigan Express
- #147 Outer Drive Express
Customers are advised to plan ahead. For more details please visit: transitchicago.com/alerts.
Addison Blue Line partial platform closure
Beginning 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 15 through Monday, April 5, Forest Park-bound trains will be unable to serve the Addison Blue Line station due to the temporarily closure of the western portion of the platform. This is the first of two temporary partial platform closures needed to allow crews to perform station improvement work.
During this time, for service from Addison, customers will need to take an O’Hare-bound train to Irving Park and transfer to a Forest Park-bound train. For service to Addison, customers will need to take a Forest Park-bound train to Belmont and transfer to an O’Hare-bound train.
Customers who use the Addison Blue Line station may want to consider using the adjacent Irving Park or Belmont stations, where trains will stop in both directions at all times. Customers can also use the #80 Irving Park and #77 Belmont buses to connect to these stations.
The #80, #77, or #152 Addison bus routes also provide connections the Brown and Red line farther east for trips to downtown. North-south buses in the area to connect to the Blue Line, such as the #82 Kimball/Homan connecting to Belmont station or #53 Pulaski connecting to Irving Park station, the #56 Milwaukee to Logan Square or Jefferson Park stations or all the way downtown, or other buses.
Blue Line riders not using the Addison station will see little to no impacts to service.
The second temporary partial platform closure is scheduled for April 5-April 25 and will affect O’Hare-bound service from Addison station.
The work being performed at Addison is part of the next phase of the Your New Blue program which is also modernizing the Irving Park, Montrose, Harlem and Cumberland Blue Line stations. Improvements at Addison include the addition of an elevator to make the station fully accessible. For more information on the Your New Blue project, please visit: http://www.transitchicago.com/yournewblue/.
Merchandise Mart Temporary Main Entrance Closure
The main entrance/exit to the Brown Line Merchandise Mart station, inside the Merchandise Mart building, will be temporarily closed beginning 10 p.m. Saturday until 4 a.m. Monday for maintenance.
Customers can continue to access the station by using the Kinzie Street auxiliary entrances/exits, located at Kinzie and Wells streets just north of the Merchandise Mart building. Access to Ventra farecard vending machines inside the station will be unavailable at this time.
Access via the Kinzie Street auxiliary entrances/exits is by stairs only. For alternative ADA-accessible service, customers should board/exit Brown Line trains at Clark/Lake, Washington/Wells, or Chicago.
United Center Events
The CTA will operate the #19 United Center Express for customers attending upcoming events at the United Center:
- Friday, March 11 at 7 p.m. – Chicago Bulls vs. Miami Heat
- Saturday, March 12 at 7 p.m. – Fall Out Boy
- Monday, March 14 at 7 p.m. – Chicago Blackhawks vs. Los Angeles Kings
- Wednesday, March 16 at 7 p.m. – Chicago Blackhawks vs. Philadelphia Flyers
- Thursday, March 17 at 7 p.m. – Chicago Bulls vs. Brooklyn Nets
- Saturday, March 19 at 7 p.m. – Chicago Bulls vs. Utah Jazz
Bus Service:
#19 United Center Express buses will leave from Michigan and Randolph beginning approximately two hours before the start of each event. After each event, #19 buses will operate for approximately one hour and await customers on the north side of the United Center eastbound on Madison near Gate 3.
#50 Damen service is also a good option for customers to access the United Center from the north and south, making connections to the Orange, Pink, Blue and Brown lines. Northbound and southbound #50 buses stop on Damen at Madison. Northbound buses will await customers on Damen at Madison after each event.
Rail Service:
CTA’s Ashland/Lake station, served by the Green and Pink lines, is located a few blocks northeast of the United Center. Customers exiting at the station can transfer to #9 Ashland buses or simply walk a few blocks to the stadium. Customers taking the Blue Line can get to the United Center by exiting at the Illinois Medical District station and walking a few blocks north to the United Center.
Stay in the Loop on CTA service
Plan your trip using the Google Transit Trip Planner. Be sure to also check out CTA on Facebook or Twitter (@CTA) for system travel updates and alerts. For details about all CTA service, call 312-836-7000 or visit the CTA website at transitchicago.com.
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