03/17/06
Service on the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line from Cermak-Chinatown to 47th Street will be temporarily suspended in both directions on Friday, March 24 starting at 10 p.m. through Monday, March 27 while construction work takes place as part of the Dan Ryan Red Line rehabilitation project.
Bus shuttle service will operate in both directions in place of regular rail service from 10 p.m. Friday, March 24 until 4 a.m. Monday, March 27. Shuttle buses will operate every seven to 15 minutes, making scheduled stops at the Cermak-Chinatown station, 35th/Wentworth, 47th station and 35th/LaSalle. Red Line trains will serve all stations except Sox-35th.
Customers with disabilities traveling between the Roosevelt and 95th/Dan Ryan stations are encouraged to use the #29 State bus or Green Line rail service. Customers should allow extra travel time. Regular Red Line service is scheduled to resume early morning Monday, March 27.
Temporarily suspending service from Cermak-Chinatown to 47th Street will allow construction crews to work at the Sox-35th station without train traffic or live rail. Construction crews will demolish the pedestrian walkway from the 33rd Street bridge to the platform and renew the track from 33rd Street to Cermak-Chinatown.
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 late 2006.
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. Eight escalators along the branch are being replaced and new elevators are being installed at 47th and 69th, making the 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. Improving power reliability and the delivery of that power are the most significant aspects of the project.
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.
# # #