Head's up, near west side commuters: a major construction project on the CTA Blue Line's Forest Park branch is about to impact your commute for an extended period of time.
The $268 million rebuild, slated to begin Sunday, will impact service between LaSalle and the Illinois Medical District, and will essentially reconstruct the entire Forest Branch of the Blue Line, making it "100% accessible to those who use mobility devices," CTA officials said.
“The start of this project work is long overdue, and the CTA is committed to securing the additional funding to advance future phases of work to provide all Blue Line riders a better transit experience," CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. said in a release.
The project is intended to upgrade infrastructure along the Blue Line, which is one of two Chicago train lines that operates 24 hours a day. Infrastructure work will take place between the Medical District and LaSalle, removing 15,000 feet of so-called “slow zones,” according to CTA officials.
Where the construction will take place and how to get around it
According to CTA officials, the project will get underway Sunday, with Blue Line service being split into two sections.
One section will operate between O’Hare International Airport and LaSalle, while the other will operate between the Illinois Medical District and Forest Park.
Local
All train service will be halted between LaSalle and the Illinois Medical District, with shuttle buses moving passengers between those stops.
According to officials, shuttles will run with intermediate stops between the stations, and a peak-direction-only express route will carry passengers from the Medical District to Jackson during the morning rush hour, and in the reverse direction in the evening.
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Forest Park branch riders are being encouraged to consider alternate routes, including using buses to access the Green and Pink lines, which run parallel to the section of the Blue Line that will be closed for construction.
Construction timeline
Beginning in late August, service will resume to the Clinton stop and the UIC-Halsted stop, but shuttle buses will remain in place between UIC-Halsted and the Illinois Medical District.
Work on Phase One of the project is expected to be completed by late October. No official start date for the second phase of the project has yet been announced.
The main entrance of the Racine station will remain closed until late 2024, but the Loomis Street auxiliary entrance at the station will reopen following the completion of track work in the fall of 2023.
More information on alternate routes and the project's progress can be found on a special CTA webpage.
