Upcoming impacts to Green and Blue line service; CTA to provide extra service for Shamrock Shuffle, United Center events
The Chicago Transit Authority is notifying customers of upcoming events requiring temporary changes to both bus and rail service, including Green Line impacts as part of the Green Line West Track Renewal project and the upcoming partial platform closure at the Addison Blue Line station as part of the Your New Blue program.
Separately, CTA is providing extra service to the 2016 Shamrock Shuffle and upcoming sporting events and concerts at the United Center.
Customers are advised to allow extra travel time.
Green Line Laramie to Harlem/Lake Impacts
Green Line service will operate between Ashland/63rd and Cottage Grove to Laramie instead of continuing to Harlem/Lake beginning at 10 p.m. Friday, April 1 until 4 a.m. Monday, April 4 due to work associated with the Green Line West Track Renewal project. During this time, Green Line trains will not serve the Central, Austin, Ridgeland, Oak Park or Harlem/Lake stations. CTA will operate free shuttle buses to serve the impacted stations during the temporary weekend impacts.
The work will occur over a total of seven weekends with the project reaching substantial completion in June 2016.
CTA recommends that customers allow extra travel time during weekends when work occurs.
The Green Line West Track Renewal project is one of the biggest transit investments on Chicago’s West Side in the past 20 years and will replace rails and ties and make other track improvements to provide smoother, more reliable rides and prevent imminent slow zones from developing in the area.
For more information, visit transitchicago.com/greenwest.
Addison Blue Line partial platform closure
Beginning 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 5 through Monday, April 25, O’Hare-bound trains will be unable to serve the Addison Blue Line station due to the temporarily closure of the eastern portion of the platform. The temporary partial platform closure allows crews to perform station improvement work as part of the Your New Blue program.
During this time, for service from Addison, O’Hare-bound customers will need to take a Forest Park-bound train to Belmont and transfer to an O’Hare-bound train. For service to Addison, customers will need to take an O’Hare-bound train to Irving Park and transfer to a Forest Park-bound train. Forest Park-bound service at Addison will not be affected.
Customers who use the Addison Blue Line station may want to consider using the adjacent Irving Park or Belmont stations, where trains will stop in both directions at all times. Customers can also use the #80 Irving Park and #77 Belmont buses to connect to these stations.
The #80, #77, or #152 Addison bus routes also provide connections the Brown and Red line farther east for trips to downtown. North-south buses in the area to connect to the Blue Line, such as the #82 Kimball/Homan connecting to Belmont station or #53 Pulaski connecting to Irving Park station, the #56 Milwaukee to Logan Square or Jefferson Park stations or all the way downtown, or other buses.
Blue Line riders not using the Addison station will see little to no impacts to service.
Following the completion of the Addison partial platform closure on April 25, the next scheduled temporary partial platform closure will be the Forest Park-bound side of the Montrose station platform from late April until mid-May.
The work being performed at Addison is part of the next phase of the Your New Blue program which is also modernizing the Irving Park, Montrose, Harlem and Cumberland Blue Line stations. Improvements at Addison include the addition of an elevator to make the station fully accessible. For more information on the Your New Blue project, please visit: http://www.transitchicago.com/yournewblue/.
2016 Shamrock Shuffle
To accommodate increased ridership, CTA will be providing extra rail service on Sunday, April 3 for the 2016 Shamrock Shuffle.
- Red Line: Trains will operate with more frequent service from 6 a.m. until 11 a.m.
- Blue Line: Longer trains will operate from approximately 6 a.m. until 1 p.m.
- Brown Line: Longer trains will operate from approximately 5 a.m. until 1 p.m.
- Orange Line: Longer trains will operate from approximately 6 a.m. until 1 p.m.
In addition, downtown street closures will require the temporary reroute of several CTA bus routes. Customers are advised to check individual bus routes for information and to plan for added travel time. For more information, visit transitchicago.com/alerts.
United Center Events
The CTA will operate the #19 United Center Express for customers attending upcoming events at the United Center:
- Friday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. – Earth Wind & Fire and Chicago concert
- Saturday, April 2 at 7 p.m. – Chicago Bulls vs. Detroit Pistons
- Sunday, April 3 at 11:30 a.m. – Chicago Blackhawks vs. Boston Bruins
- Monday, April 4 at 8 p.m. – David Gilmour concert
- Tuesday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. – Chicago Blackhawks vs. Arizona Coyotes
- Wednesday, April 6 at 8 p.m. – Iron Maiden concert
- Thursday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. – Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues
- Friday, April 8 at 8 p.m. – David Gilmour concert
Bus Service:
#19 United Center Express buses will leave from Michigan and Randolph beginning approximately two hours before the start of each event. After each event, #19 buses will operate for approximately one hour and await customers on the north side of the United Center eastbound on Madison near Gate 3.
#50 Damen service is also a good option for customers to access the United Center from the north and south, making connections to the Orange, Pink, Blue and Brown lines. Northbound and southbound #50 buses stop on Damen at Madison. Northbound buses will await customers on Damen at Madison after each event.
Rail Service:
CTA’s Ashland/Lake station, served by the Green and Pink lines, is located a few blocks northeast of the United Center. Customers exiting at the station can transfer to #9 Ashland buses or simply walk a few blocks to the stadium. Customers taking the Blue Line can get to the United Center by exiting at the Illinois Medical District station and walking a few blocks north to the United Center.
Stay in the Loop on CTA service
Plan your trip using the Google Transit Trip Planner. Be sure to also check out CTA on Facebook or Twitter (@CTA) for system travel updates and alerts. For details about all CTA service, call 312-836-7000 or visit the CTA website at transitchicago.com.
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