CTA Opens One Station, Delays A Few Others

By Scott Smith in News on Jan 10, 2007 9:45PM

Good news for all those "L" riders whose trips to the Admiral Theater were curtailed since the closing of the Kimball station back in September: get your dollar bills ready because the stop re-opens this Friday at 4 a.m.

The re-opening is three days ahead of schedule, leaving Montrose, Addison and Francisco closed to use due to Brown Line reconstruction. To track which Brown Line stations are open, closed or otherwise affected by construction, we recommend Chicago Transit Status, run by Tony Coppoletta. The site also keeps you informed about developments along other train lines with an easy-to-use graphic interface that’s a lot easier than combing through a set of press releases.

Speaking of Brown Line delays, the CTA plans on utilizing a three-track system, as opposed to its current four-track setup, between the Armitage and Addison stops along the Red Line from April of this year until 2009, which will result in fewer trains and increased delays on the Red, Brown and Purple lines. Fewer trains also mean more crowding on platforms and delays in boarding so the CTA recommends using alternate routes via bus, Metra, or the Blue Line. How exactly they expect you to get to the Brown Line Armitage stop via the Blue Line is anybody’s guess. Chances are, you’ll just be hitting the snooze button a lot less this spring until the Brown Line's all fixed up. This Tribune article includes a quote from Michael Shiffer, CTA vice president of planning and development, who says "you should budget at least double the amount of time to get home and 50 percent additional time to get to work."

Lastly, the CTA approved a capital improvement project to replace signal and train control systems along the Loop elevated tracks, which will prevent problems like the backwards Orange Line problem last month.

Help at Kimball via zesmerelda.