The entrance at Polk Street will close next week while crews install equipment that will allow the auxiliary entrance to serve as the primary entrance for the next several months. The Polk auxiliary entrance, which is located on the southwest corner of the Red Line’s Harrison station, will temporarily close on Monday, May 4. On Monday, May 11 it will reopen as the primary entrance. At that time, the Harrison Street entrance will close for five months in order to replace the escalator that connects the mezzanine to the platform.
The work is part of CTA’s escalator modernization project which began last year. The CTA’s escalators range in age from 25- to 70-years-old.
Several escalators have already been replaced in the Red and Blue Line subways. On the Red Line, one platform to mezzanine escalator at Monroe/Adams; one street to mezzanine escalator at Adams/Jackson and one street to mezzanine escalator at Jackson/Van Buren have been replaced. On the Blue Line, the escalator leading from the platform to the mezzanine at the Randolph/Washington station has been replaced.
Escalators scheduled to be replaced include two from the street to the mezzanine level at Monroe/Adams, one from the street level to the mezzanine at Adams/Jackson on the Red Line; and one platform to mezzanine at the Blue Line Madison/Monroe station.
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