Brown, Purple Line Weekend Construction Brings Closures And Reroutes
By Rachel Cromidas in News on Apr 6, 2015 6:35PM
The CTA wants you to finally say goodbye to some of the slow zones that have been stalling Brown Line commutes for years. But first, you’ll have to say goodbye to Armitage, Sedgwick and other Brown and Purple Line stations south of Fullerton Avenue for 13 weekends this spring and summer.
Starting this weekend, the CTA is rerouting Brown and Purple Line trains to the Red Line’s tracks between Fullerton Avenue and Roosevelt Road from 8 p.m. Fridays to 4 a.m. Monday mornings. The weekend track work will be spread out over the next several months and trains will operate normally during some of the city’s big summer festivals, including Taste of Chicago and Lollapalooza, according to a CTA press release.
In the meantime, the CTA will be running free shuttle buses between Lincoln Park's Fullerton station and the Clark/Lake station in the Loop with stops at or near closed stations, as well as an additional shuttle train that provides connections between Brown Line services in the subway to all Loop "L" stations.
The track work is part of the $90 million Ravenswood Connector Rehabilitation Project, a two-years construction project to eliminate slow zones on the Brown Line. Crews will be repairing rails, ties and other parts of the elevated track between the Armitage Avenue and Merchandise Mart stops.
The project is costing the city about $24 million more than originally expected and has taken a year longer than officials hoped when they announced the project in 2012. But officials say the project will be worth the wait, with its potential to shave two to three minutes off of the commutes of some 40,000 people who ride the Brown and Purple Lines on an average weekday.