Belmont, Fullerton Back To Normal By End of '08

By Margaret Lyons in News on May 14, 2008 7:19PM

Hotcha! The CTA says it's going to finish construction at the Belmont and Fullerton el stops by the end of 2008, six months earlier than expected. How will they accomplish such a feat? By uh...working faster.

"We compared what it would cost to accelerate the construction schedule against what the additional costs are for adequately supporting three-track operation," said CTA President Ron Huberman. "Accelerating the construction schedule will cost $1.6 million that will come out of capital funds for the Brown Line project budget, but it will reduce our operating costs since we are currently providing supplemental bus service and have additional staff deployed to the corridor to support three-track operation. Most importantly it will restore normal service for our customers sooner than expected."

Since the project is within budget, the CTA will also be installing escalators at the two stops. After the jump, a little story of what I think of every time I hear "Fullerton." Just because. [CTA, photo by Jake Merten]

A few summers ago, I was on the Red Line heading north. It was right before July 4th weekend, and a crazy smelly guy was explaining to everyone on the el car that we shouldn't go to the beach—because Osama bin Laden, and an international network of terrorists, are planning to bomb beaches. Because that's where the most people would be, naturally. He starts this rant around Washington as I recall, and it's a pretty elaborate lecture, with call-and-response portions (which no one actually responds to) and an intricate, but tough to follow, internal logic. Anyway, the train robot announces that the next stop is Fullerton, and the guy goes nuts. Well, nutsier.

"Fullerton? Fuck Fullerton! I fucking missed my stop! Fucking Fullerton! I was too busy telling all you people about Osama bin Laden that I missed my fucking stop. Fucking Fullerton!"

We all look around uncomfortably.

The guy gets up from his seat, stands in the doorway part of the car, puts on his headphones and presses what I'm assuming is play on his Walkman. Then he starts gently doing the running man and singing "Since U Been Gone."