06/01/06
Work scheduled this weekend on the Brown Line will result in a 26-hour temporary closure of both the Kimball and Francisco stations from 3 a.m. Saturday, June 3 until 5 a.m. Sunday, June 4.
During the Saturday closures of Kimball and Francisco, Brown Line trains will operate between the Loop and Western station and free bus shuttles will serve customers whose stations are closed. Due to Mayfest this weekend, bus shuttle service which normally operates between Kimball and Western has been extended to Damen station. Bus shuttle service will be provided to customers free of charge between Damen station and Kimball station during regular Brown Line hours as a substitute for rail service. The bus shuttle will make stops at Damen and Leland, the Western Avenue station, Rockwell and Lawrence, Sacramento and Lawrence, Kedzie and Lawrence, Kedzie and Wilson, and at the Kimball station.
On an average Saturday, approximately 2,000 customers enter the Kimball station and 500 enter the Francisco station.
In addition to the Saturday shuttle service, customers in close proximity to the Kimball and Francisco stations are also served by the following six CTA bus routes: #11 Lincoln, #49 Western, #49B North Western, #78 Montrose, #81 Lawrence, #82 Kimball/Homan and #93 California/Dodge.
On February 20, both the Kedzie and Rockwell stations closed for reconstruction and will remain closed for six months. Western station will remain open throughout construction.
Customers in close proximity to the Kedzie station are also served by the following four CTA bus routes: #78 Montrose, #81 Lawrence, #82 Kimball/Homan and #93 California/Dodge. Customers in close proximity to theRockwell station are served by the following six CTA bus routes: #11 Lincoln, #49 Western, #49B North Western, #X49 Western Express, #78 Montrose and the #81 Lawrence.
The station work at Rockwell and Kedzie remains on schedule. The construction contract for the at-grade stations provides for up to ten 52-hour temporary weekend closures, for a total of 520 hours. As the work at these stations has progressed, several weekends have consisted of 52-hour temporary closures but, in some instances, the contractor has not needed an entire 52 consecutive hours on a particular weekend.
To be efficient, keep the project on schedule, and to minimize service disruptions for weekend customers and the community, the CTA agreed to the contractor's request for occasional shorter closures of 25 or 26 hours, with the understanding that the total number of weekend closure hours should not exceed the 520 that was the basis of their original schedule. The shorter closures have allowed construction crews to keep the project moving and allowed the CTA to keep Kimball and Francisco stations open to customers for one day of each of the five weekends when this has occurred.
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