05/22/06
Service on the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line from 95th to 69th Street will be temporarily suspended in both directions from midnight Friday, May 26 until mid-day Monday, May 29 while construction work takes place as part of the Dan Ryan Red Line rehabilitation project.
CTA will operate bus shuttle service for customers as a substitute for rail service. Bus shuttle service will stop at all impacted stations ? 95th, 87th, 79th, 69th and 63rd Street stations, where normal Red Line service will operate in both directions between 63rd and Howard Street stations. Bus shuttle service will operate on the same schedule as rail service would normally operate during the same time period.
Customers with disabilities are encouraged to use the #29 State bus. Customers are advised to allow extra travel time. Regular Red Line service will resume in the afternoon on Memorial Day.
Temporarily suspending service from 95th Street to 69th Street will allow construction crews to work at 87th, 79th and 69th Street stations without train traffic or live rail. The weekend work is part of the third and final phase of the Dan Ryan Red Line rehabilitation project which is scheduled to be completed later this year.
On an average Saturday, 18,400 customers enter 95th, 87th, 79th and 69th Street stations. On an average Sunday, 13,125 customers enter the stations.
Improving power reliability and the delivery of that power are the most significant aspects of the project. Since the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line opened in 1969, the CTA has added trains and increased their frequency to keep up with customer demand. In 1969, the Red Line ran six-car trains with rush hour intervals at 5-7 minutes. Today, the Red Line runs eight-car trains with rush hour intervals at 3-5 minutes.
Seven stations from Sox-35th to 87th are being upgraded to include new flooring, enhanced lighting, refurbished platform canopies, new customer assistant kiosks and improved signs. Ten escalators along the branch are being replaced. In addition new elevators are being installed at 47th and 69th, making those stations accessible to customers with disabilities. Additional enhancements include improved bus connections, curb cuts, canopies over station entrances and improved lighting on the approach to each station.
The Red Line extends from the 95th/Dan Ryan terminal on the South Side to the Howard terminal on the North Side, where customers can make connections with Purple and Yellow Line trains. Red Line trains operate seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The Red Line is the busiest rail line in the CTA system and the Dan Ryan branch provided more than 15 million rides in 2005.
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