First of weekend temporary track closures begin between Western and Logan Stations
As part of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Your New Blue track and station improvement program for the Blue Line O’Hare branch, the CTA reminds customers that the first of several weekend track closures will begin this weekend, affecting service between Western and Logan Square. The track closure will start at 10 p.m. Friday, March 21, and continue through 4 a.m. on Monday, March 24.
During the temporary closures, the CTA will provide free shuttle bus service for rail customers, as well as free transfers back into rail stations. The shuttles will run continuously and will be able to accommodate all Blue Line passengers. Shuttle buses will stop at each station affected by the track closure – Western, California and Logan Square -- to pick up and drop off passengers.For customers with disabilities, shuttles will provide service to the closest accessible station.
Some of the weekend work will also require temporary street closures and parking restrictions near the elevated structure. For this weekend, there will be an overnight closure of Fullerton and Sacramento Friday, Saturday and Sunday; and intermittent, alternating daytime closures of Fullerton and Sacramento on Saturday and Sunday.
Customers are strongly encouraged to allow extra travel time when using the Blue Line O’Hare branch this weekend.
The track work includes replacing wooden rail ties, tie plates and other track materials on the Milwaukee elevated track structure between the Damen and Logan Square stops—a section of line that opened in 1895 and still sits on the original structure. That work will require 10 temporary, weekend-only closures of small sections of the Blue Line, tentatively scheduled between March and August. The next track closure, between Western and Damen, is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. Friday, April 4, through 4 a.m. Monday, April 7.
Announced in December 2013, Your New Blue is a $492 million project to provide faster, smoother commutes and improved stations along the Blue Line’s O’Hare branch between the Grand and O’Hare stations. Your New Blue is the largest, most comprehensive investment in the Blue Line since the O'Hare branch was extended to the airport from Jefferson Park in 1983-84. More information about the project is available at www.transitchicago.com/yournewblue.
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