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Posted: Saturday, 18 July 2009 8:50AM
Blue Line service suspended until Monday
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CHICAGO -- Service on the CTA Blue Line between the Western/Milwaukee station on the Near Northwest Side and the downtown Washington station is temporarily suspended until early Monday as work continues in the Dearborn subway to reduce slow zones.
Service between these two stations was suspended at 10 p.m. Friday and will resume at 4 a.m. Monday.
Bus shuttles will operate as a substitute for rail service making stops at Western/Milwaukee, Damen, Division, Chicago, Grand, adjacent to Clark/Lake (southbound buses on Clark and northbound buses on LaSalle), Washington, Monroe and Jackson, according to a release from the CTA.
The Western/Milwaukee and Jackson stations are accessible to customers with disabilities.
The Monroe and Washington stations are open for rail service; however, the CTA encourages customers traveling southbound on shuttle buses to exit at Jackson to continue their trips. The work does not impact the two stations; therefore, leaving Monroe and Washington open allows customers who exit or board at those stations to have easier access to their respective bus routes
Customers heading to O’Hare from Forest Park also are encouraged to exit at Jackson to board shuttle buses to Western/Milwaukee where they can board Blue Line trains to O’Hare.
Blue Line trains will operate normally from Forest Park to Washington, and from O’Hare to Western/Milwaukee.
The CTA began a project in 2007 to eliminate existing slow zones in the Dearborn subway. The slow zones were having a major impact on travel time for riders. With the funds available at the time, the agency was able to make repairs that allowed trains to resume normal speeds.
From July to September 2007, repairs were made to 6,336 feet of slow zones between the Damen and Clark/Lake stations. Crews replaced more than 5,000 deteriorated wooden rail ties with concrete rail ties.
Recently the CTA received federal stimulus funding that allows it to renew all of the remaining track (approximately seven miles or 39,000 feet) from Division on the O’Hare branch to Clinton on the Forest Park branch. Crews are replacing deteriorated wooden half ties with concrete half ties, running rail and contact (third) rail to remove emerging slow zones and help prevent the creation of new slow zones.
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Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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