Montrose and Addison Brown Line Stations to Temporarily Close for Renovation on Saturday, December 2

Chicago Transit Authority officials gathered today at the Montrose station on the Brown Line to remind customers that beginning Saturday, December 2, the Montrose and Addison stations will temporarily close for renovation. Both stations will temporarily close for 12 months while construction crews upgrade and extend platforms, and rebuild the stationhouses. The three stations adjacent to Montrose and Addison ? Paulina, Irving Park and Damen ? will remain open so CTA recommends that customers use them as alternates to access Brown Line service.

When these stations re-open next year customers will have modern stationhouses and platforms with new elevators and accessible turnstiles that will allow customers with disabilities to use both stations. In addition, wider stairways, additional turnstiles and improved entrances and exits will allow for a better flow of customer traffic. When the entire project is completed in 2009, longer platforms will allow eight-car trains to berth at each station on the Brown Line which will allow many more customers to board. Currently the platforms along the Brown Line are only able to accommodate six-car trains. Other improvements include security cameras, brighter lighting, tactile edging on the platforms and upgraded public address systems.

"Construction is nearly complete at the Kedzie and Rockwell stations and well underway at 10 of the 18 stations included in the project. We are moving even closer to the project's finish line," said CTA President Frank Kruesi. ?The end result will be improved facilities and service for Brown Line customers."

Officials also announced that the Chicago, Armitage and Sedgwick stations will close for construction purposes from Friday evening, December 1 through Sunday, December 3. CTA will provide a bus shuttle that will operate between the Fullerton station and Clark/Lake station as a substitute for Brown Line rail service throughout the weekend closure. Normal Brown Line service will resume Monday morning, December 4 at Chicago, Armitage and Sedgwick.

Both the Montrose and Addison stations are located in areas where existing CTA service is plentiful. In addition to nearby rail stations, there are seven existing CTA bus routes that provide service near Montrose station on weekdays and weekends, the #78 Montrose, #50 Damen, #145 Wilson/Michigan Express, #80 Irving Park, #X80 Irving Park Express, #81 Lawrence and the #148 Clarendon/Michigan Express (weekdays, peak direction only).

Eight existing CTA bus routes provide service near Addison station, the #9 Ashland, #X9 Ashland Express (weekdays only), #11 Lincoln, #50 Damen, #77 Belmont, #80 Irving Park, #X80 Irving Park Express and the #152 Addison.

Over the course of the project, nine other stations on the line are also subject to temporary closure. Work will continue to be scheduled so that no two consecutive stations are closed at the same time on weekdays. Temporary closures are necessary in order to have the type of access needed to extend platforms, make stations accessible, stay within budget and keep the project on schedule.

Signs with the upcoming closure date and information on alternate service for Montrose and Addison are posted at both stations and on Brown Line trains. Information will also be posted at the three adjacent stations, Paulina, Irving Park and Damen. Information on the temporary closures, available service and overall project is also available on CTA's web site www.transitchicago.com or at www.ctabrownline.com.

CTA will continue to provide advance notice and alternate service options for customers as schedules for temporary station closures are finalized. Throughout the Brown Line construction project, slow zones and single track operation are periodically necessary near construction activity so, as a general rule, rail customers should allow extra travel time.

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.