Your New Blue construction work begins next week at the Harlem (O’Hare branch) station
The Chicago Transit Authority is a convenient and affordable transit option for traveling to events around Chicago this weekend, including the North Coast Music Festival at Union Park and the Northwestern Football game at Ryan Field.
Separately, CTA is notifying customers of upcoming construction work as part of Your New Blue that will temporarily impact service at Harlem station on the O’Hare branch. Also, construction work as part of the 95th Terminal Improvement Project will require a temporary lane closure on the Dan Ryan Expressway near 95th Street.
2016 North Coast Music Festival
The CTA will provide extra bus and rail service for this weekend’s North Coast Music Festival at Union Park.
Green Line: Longer trains will operate beginning at approximately 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
#9 Ashland: Extra service will be provided on the #9 route each evening until approximately one hour after the event ends.
Northwestern Football games
The CTA will provide extra rail service on the Purple Line beginning approximately two hours before the following Northwestern Football games at Ryan Field:
- Saturday, September 3 at 11 a.m. – Northwestern vs. Western Michigan
- Saturday, September 10 at 2:30 p.m. – Northwestern vs. Illinois State
Ryan Field is located just west of the Purple Line’s Central station in Evanston.
Next Week: Partial platform closure at Harlem Blue Line (O’Hare branch)
Your New Blue station and platform renewal work at the Harlem (O’Hare branch) Blue Line station will require the temporary closure of a portion of the platform beginning 9 p.m. Tuesday, September 6 through 9 p.m. Tuesday, September 20. During this time, O’Hare-bound trains will not serve the station.
With the exception of customers who use the Harlem (O’Hare branch) station, Blue Line riders will see little to no impacts to service.
Train Service at Harlem
For service from Harlem, O’Hare-bound customers will need to take a Forest Park-bound train to Jefferson Park and transfer across the platform to an O’Hare-bound train.
For service to Harlem when traveling towards O’Hare, customers will need to continue to Cumberland and transfer across the platform to a Forest Park-bound train to exit at Harlem.
Alternate Service Options
Consider using the adjacent Blue Line stations at Cumberland and Jefferson Park, where trains in both directions will continue to stop.
The #68 Northwest Highway, #88 Higgins and #81W West Lawrence buses connect with the Jefferson Park Blue Line station. Metra Union Pacific Northwest Line service to downtown is also available at the Metra Norwood Park station.
Park & Ride space is also available at the Cumberland station, for the same rate as at the Park & Ride lot at the Harlem station. Visit
transitchicago.com/parking for more information.
In December 2013, the CTA and Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced
Your New Blue, the largest modernization investment on the Blue Line since it was extended to O’Hare International Airport in 1984.
Illinois Medical District (IMD) station entrance reopens
The Paulina entrance to the IMD Blue Line station is now open following the completion of temporary repairs to the pedestrian walkway that sustained damaged during a severe storm in July.
In August, CTA announced a $23 million renovation to the IMD station, which will remain open as crews add an elevator and make other improvements to all three station entrances. For more information on the project, visit:
http://www.transitchicago.com/imd/.
Reminder: Union Station Transit Center opens
Beginning Sunday morning with the start of service, the following bus routes will begin serving the new Union Station Transit Center (USTC), located along Jackson Blvd. between Canal St. and Clinton St. just south of Union Station:
The USTC provides customers with a safer, more convenient transfer point between buses and trains, along with several new amenities including CTA Bus Tracker displays, Ventra vending machines, weather protection with canopied waiting areas, as well as elevator access to the underground Amtrak pedway connection to Union Station, which serves 120,000 people each weekday.
Reminder: Extended lane closure on northbound Dan Ryan Expressway near 95th Street
Upcoming work associated with CTA’s 95th Street Terminal Improvement Project will require the extended closure of the left northbound lane on the Dan Ryan Expressway near 95th Street. The lane closure begins following the evening rush period on Tuesday, September 6 and will continue until approximately Thanksgiving 2016.
For more information on the lane closure and the latest developments on the $280 million 95th Street Terminal Improvement Project please see
separate press release.
Reminder: 31st Street Bus Pilot begins Next Week
CTA is reminding customers that on Tuesday, September 6, the new #31 31st bus route pilot will begin.
#31 buses will operate every 30 minutes between the Ashland Orange Line station and the Lake Meadows Shopping Center located at 33rd Place and King Drive. The new route will operate on weekdays until approximately 7 p.m. and offer the surrounding community improved transit connections, with service stops planned at the Sox-35th Red Line and 35th-Bronzeville-IIT Green Line stations.
The pilot is the latest in a series of recent bus service improvements made by CTA President Dorval R. Carter Jr. to improve CTA bus service, including the recent launch of the #11 Lincoln bus pilot, the expansion of bus service on the South Side and restoration of express service on the Ashland and Western routes last December.
Reminder: Students Ride Free this Tuesday, September 6
CTA will again this year provide all students and accompanying adults with free bus and train rides on the first day of Chicago Public Schools’ school year, which is Tuesday, September 6, 2016.
Mayor Emanuel’s “First Day, Free Rides” program, which was first launched September 2011, provided more than 116,000 free rides to students and their parents or guardians last year.
Stay in the Loop on CTA Service
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