Rail service suspended in CTA Blue Line subway this weekend
Written by jrood
From 10 p.m. August 21 until 4 a.m. August 24, service on the Blue Line between the Western/Milwaukee and Clark/Lake stations will be temporarily suspended as work continues in the Dearborn subway to remove slow zones. Bus shuttles will operate as a substitute for rail service making stops at Western/Milwaukee, Damen, Division, Chicago, Grand and Clark/Lake. CTA customers are advised to allow extra travel time. Both the Western/Milwaukee and Clark/Lake stations are accessible to customers with disabilities.,Blue Line trains will operate normally from Forest Park to Clark/Lake, and from O'Hare to Western/Milwaukee.
In 2007, CTA began a
project to eliminate existing slow zones in the Dearborn subway that were
having a major impact on travel time for riders. With the funds available at
the time, CTA 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.
