From 10 p.m. Friday, July 17 until 4 a.m. Monday, July 20, service on the Blue Line between the Western/Milwaukee and Washington stations will be temporarily suspended as work continues in the Dearborn subway to reduce slow zones.
Bus shuttles will operate as a substitute for rail service making stops at Western/Milwaukee, Damen, Division, Chicago, Grand, adjacent to Clark/Lake (southbound buses on Clark and northbound buses on LaSalle), Washington, Monroe and Jackson.
The Western/Milwaukee and Jackson stations are accessible to customers with disabilities.
The Monroe and Washington stations are open for rail service; however, CTA encourages customers traveling southbound on shuttle buses to exit at Jackson to continue their trips. The work does not impact the two stations; therefore, leaving Monroe and Washington open allows customers who exit or board at those stations to have easier access to their respective bus routes.
Customers heading to O’Hare from Forest Park also are encouraged to exit at Jackson to board shuttle buses to Western/Milwaukee where they can board Blue Line trains to O’Hare.
CTA customers who are transferring from Loop elevated stations are encouraged to travel to Clark/Lake to board a shuttle bus. In addition, Brown, Orange and Pink line customers heading to Forest Park can exit at the Library/Van Buren station and walk over to the Jackson/Dearborn station to continue their trips on a free transfer.
Blue Line trains will operate normally from Forest Park to Washington, and from O’Hare to Western/Milwaukee. Service through the Dearborn subway will resume normal operation at 4 a.m. on Monday, July 20.
In 2007, CTA began a project to eliminate existing slow zones in the Dearborn subway that were having a major impact on travel time for riders. With the funds available at the time, CTA was able to make repairs that allowed trains to resume normal speeds.
From July to September 2007, repairs were made to 6,336 feet of slow zones between the Damen and Clark/Lake stations. Crews replaced more than 5,000 deteriorated wooden rail ties with concrete rail ties.
Recently the CTA received federal stimulus funding that allows it to renew all of the remaining track (approximately seven miles or 39,000 feet) from Division on the O’Hare branch to Clinton on the Forest Park branch. Crews are replacing deteriorated wooden half ties with concrete half ties, running rail and contact (third) rail to remove emerging slow zones and help prevent the creation of new slow zones.
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