October 11, 2002
CTA BLUE LINE REHAB PROJECT OPENS TEMPORARY STATION AT CALIFORNIA
A temporary station will open on Monday, October 14 at the California station on the Cermak (Douglas) Branch of the Blue Line as part of the CTA's $482.6 million rehabilitation project. The old station will undergo a total reconstruction, bringing the latest in amenities to CTA customers in the area.
Beginning Monday, October 14, CTA customers will enter the temporary station on Washtenaw (2700 West), two blocks east of California, and exit the facility at either Washtenaw or Rockwell (2600 West).
The reconstructed station ? set for completion by the end of 2003 ? will have elevators and other amenities to make it fully accessible to customers with disabilities. It will be located in the same approximate site on the east side of California Avenue. A secondary fare card entrance will be located on the west side of California, allowing for more convenient bus transfers. The designated bus shelter adjacent to the station will offer benches and windbreaks with overhead heaters.
Other amenities will include a Customer Assistant kiosk and an island platform built between the tracks, designed to be functional and comfortable for CTA passengers as they wait to board trains. Platform amenities will include information kiosks, benches, canopies and windbreaks with overhead heaters to protect customers from the elements during inclement weather.
Since the project began in August 2001, the CTA has completed more than 500 caissons, or foundations for the support columns, and poured over 500 columns. Other completed work includes the replacement of 250 spans of steel elevated structure and the completion of the foundation for the new 54th/Cermak station.
On an average weekday, the California station serves close to eight hundred passengers.
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