Expect Delays On CTA Marathon Sunday
By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 11, 2013 9:56PM
"Be Prepared" is the Boy Scouts' motto and it should be yours if you plan on taking CTA buses and trains downtown to run or view Sunday's Bank of America Chicago Marathon because the course route will screw with service citywide.
The #3 King Drive bus route will have service every 15 minutes between McCormick Place and Walton/Mies van der Rohe to accommodate runners and spectators from 5:30 a.m. until approximately one hour after the event starts. Intermittent reroutes along several CTA bus routes will happen along the King Drive route and the following:
- #56 Milwaukee
- #4 Cottage Grove
- #60 Blue Island/26th
- #6 Jackson Park Express
-#62 Archer
- #8 Halsted
- #65 Grand
- #9 Ashland
- #66 Chicago
- #10 Museum of Science & Industry
- #70 Division
- #12 Roosevelt
- #72 North
- #J14 Jeffery Jump
- #73 Armitage
- #18 16th/18th
- #74 Fullerton
- #20 Madison
- #76 Diversey
- #21 Cermak
- #77 Belmont
- #22 Clark
- #124 Navy Pier
- #R22 Cermak-Roosevelt Express Shuttle
- #126 Jackson
- #29 State
- #146 Inner Drive/Michigan Express
- #35 31st/35th
- #147 Outer Drive Express
- #36 Broadway
- #151 Sheridan
- #44 Wallace/Racine
- #152 Addison
- #50 Damen
Reroutes can be expected in the downtown area from 6:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.; on the North Side from 6:30 a.m. until noon; on the West Side from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m.; and on the South Side from 6:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Service will be added to the Red Line and longer trains will operate on the Blue, Brown, Orange, Green, Pink and Purple lines during marathon hours. The first train on the Brown line will leave Kimball at 5 a.m., while the fist trains will operate on the Orange, Pink and Purple Lines at 5:30 a.m.
Brown Line service into the Loop will begin earlier than normal, with the first train departing Kimball at 5 a.m., providing service to downtown. The first Green Line train will depart from Harlem/Lake at 5:30 a.m. and 63rd/Cottage Grove at 5:40 a.m.
In short: expect delays even with the added service. And be thankful CTA reinstated sales of magnetic stripe farecards Wednesday so you are not forced to buy a Ventra card yet.