UPDATED: CTA repairs vs. festivals could make for a long summer
UPDATE: I just got a note from the CTA that there is no Red Line diversion planned during the Taste of Chicago -- June 26 through July 6 -- nights or weekends. Thank you!
With the summer festival season in full swing now, I have to wonder how the throngs of people from Taste of Chicago and other events will get home with the Red Line sharing the elevated tracks after 9 pm with the Brown, Green, Pink and Orange lines.
A reader wrote me last week about crowds of people spilling down the stairs to the El platform after a recent Movie in the Park showing at Grant Park. As I mentioned, Taste of Chicago and July 3 will be even worse.
Hey CTA! Perhaps you folks should look at the calendar and select certain nights when you won't shut the Red Line subway for slow zone repairs.
Sort of like the CTA's big announcement that the Skokie Swift will be operating on weekends again this year, for the first time in ages.
Except that it's shut down about every other weekend to replace the grade crossings in Skokie.
Brilliant timing guys, just brilliant!
Posted by: Unindicted Co-conspirator | June 17, 2008 at 08:01 AM
CTA does not have any Red Line work scheduled at nights or on weekends during the Taste of Chicago.
Posted by: cta | June 17, 2008 at 09:12 AM
So there. Quit whining.
Posted by: cta | June 17, 2008 at 09:14 AM
Actually, a few of us here talked about how intelligent a decision that would be shortly before Memorial Day -- I'm not going to look for the comments now -- and sure enough, on Memorial Day weekend, everything ran normally.
And during the Blues Fest, while the CTA was using some of the alternative routing, my out-of-town guests found the signs and information more than adequate. (While the Blues Fest doesn't draw the crowds that July 3 does, they aren't *that* much smaller -- and they're certainly much bigger than the Movies in the Park crowds -- and we had no trouble getting on at Adams & Wabash any of the evenings. One friend was a little annoyed that one night there were two Greens and two Browns before a Red came, but wasn't going to turn it into a conspiracy the way some people here will.)
Posted by: Bob S. | June 17, 2008 at 09:18 AM
UC-c, you'd be more convincing if you were more accurate.
Three weekends of 12 isn't :about every other weekend."
Posted by: reese | June 17, 2008 at 09:26 AM
["Three weekends of 12 isn't :about every other weekend."]
Despite the exaggeration, I agree with UC-c on this one. Why couldn't the Skokie Swift work be done before weekend service was resumed? That does seem dumb to me. They should at least time it for when the Cubs are out of town, which they didn't do the first weekend it was closed, IIRC.
Posted by: strannix | June 17, 2008 at 09:32 AM
It took me half an hour to get from Cicero to Central last night on the Green Line. The overall trip from Clark/Lake was an hour.
Posted by: Mike | June 17, 2008 at 09:56 AM
side note:
If you enjoy having to forcefully walk amongst 1M+ sweaty sunburnt rude people, wait 30min for food, and view a subpar 20min fireworks show than the July 3rd Taste of Chicago is for you.
Posted by: jeezzy | June 17, 2008 at 11:10 AM
On the bright side, one thing we can be thankful for is that the dawn of 8-car trains on the brown line has begun early enough to help with the crowds at all these summer events.
Now if they would just make sure to use 8-car trains during these events...
Posted by: stillwaiting | June 17, 2008 at 11:13 AM
I like the fireworks!
Posted by: Adam Kotsko | June 17, 2008 at 01:02 PM