The weekend miscellany report
CTA Prez Ron Huberman officially anointed the new Diversey station Thursday at the official opening. And yes, the 100-year-old station house will be restored on the north side of the street, so another exit staircase will be available. Diversey is the 11th of 18 renovated Brown Line stations.
Blue Line slow zone work. Blue Lines service will be suspended this weekend between Jeferson Park and Montrose from 9 pm. Friday to 3 a.m. Monday to replace deteriorated rail ties, tie plates and spikes.
Red Line over the top. More slow zone work this weekend sends the Red Line over the top in both directions from 9 pm Friday till 3 am Monday.
Bud Billikin Parade service. Lots of service changes and additions for the big South Side parade this weekend. Go here for details.
Baseball on both sides of town. In a rare scheduling fluke, both the Cubs and Sox play in Chicago this weekend. So look for crowded Red Line trains on afternoons and evenings. Winners of the last four World Series play here this weekend. Needless to say, the Cubs aren't among that elite group, which includes both the Red and White Sox and the Cardinals. Sox fans, don't forget about the Red Line subway being closed. Use the elevated stations from Fullerton to Cermak-Chinatown.
A timely reminder -- going to see Sox tonight, and I *allllways* forget about the red line over the top and wind up walking 7 blocks home instead of 4.
Go Sox Go! (As for the north side, I don't care too much one way or the other about the Cubs, but I sure hope the Cards lose. :-)
Posted by: sabrina | August 08, 2008 at 08:37 AM
Odd... Most Sox fans I know root for the Cardinals against the Cubs. Like, an enemy of my enemy is my friend type thing...
Either way, thanks for pointing out the Cubs past ineptness. Ha!!!
Posted by: chris | August 08, 2008 at 08:49 AM
Traffic is going to be horrendous on the north side this weekend with Cubs games going on and Market Days shutting down Halsted from Belmont to Addison.
Posted by: g | August 08, 2008 at 09:16 AM
I thought the blue line work from downtown to o'hare was done?
Posted by: Mike | August 08, 2008 at 09:26 AM
Jeff Park to O'Hare is finished. Division through the subway has been completed. I think.... It's difficult to keep up. So many slow zones, so little time. What's up with the Green Line south of Roosevelt? It's creeping along. Seems as though CTA is playing whack-a-mole. One slow zone gets eliminated and another pops up.
Posted by: Martha | August 08, 2008 at 09:58 AM
[I thought the blue line work from downtown to O'Hare was done?]
Thats what they wanted you to think!
KevinB
Posted by: KevinB | August 08, 2008 at 10:09 AM
I find it funny that the current admin. is happy to lay claim to the Brown Line station completions as their own (entirely a Kruesi project) but distances itself from Block 37 or any other unsuccessful program.
Posted by: Jim | August 08, 2008 at 10:23 AM
Yeah, I was on a train in from Midway this week & it took forever to go from Roosevelt to State/Van Buren.
Midday & nobody working on the tracks either.
Posted by: Unindicted Co-conspirator | August 08, 2008 at 11:13 AM
"Sox fans, don't forget about the Red Line subway being closed. Use the elevated stations from Fullerton to Cermak-Chinatown."
...oh and Cubs fans - feel free to wander around the loop aimlessly...
(Sorry, I couldn't help myself)
No seriously, Cubs fans, do yourself a favor and take the Brown line to Southport and walk from there,you'll be glad you did.
From www.transitchicago.com
"Red Line Subway Trains Rerouted to Loop Elevated Tracks on Weekend
9 p.m., Friday, August 8 until 3 a.m., Monday, August 11, 2008
Due to Red Line subway construction, Red Line trains will operate on the Loop elevated tracks between the Fullerton and Cermak-Chinatown stations. Trains will make all elevated stops from Roosevelt (accessible) to Fullerton in both directions."
Posted by: John T | August 08, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Thanks for the reminder about the red going "over the top"- I'm going to the Sox game on Sunday. Best of luck to both hometown teams this weekend!
Posted by: Patrick | August 08, 2008 at 11:41 AM
... or to Belmont and walk.
Posted by: John T | August 08, 2008 at 11:42 AM
"Needless to say" yeah...but you did anyway.
Posted by: Painhertz | August 08, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Phil Rogers said it in the Trib, too. We hold these truths to be self-evident.
Posted by: Martha | August 08, 2008 at 09:49 PM
The August 6, 2008 slow zone map(which seemed to be posted at least 10 days late), doesn't show anything added in the Blue Line Dearborn Subway, but the corresponding chart shows 3,289 feet of slow zones added. Has the Blue line slowed down downtown again and the slow zones weren't placed on the map? Or is the chart incorrect?
Link to Map:
http://www.transitchicago.com/news/motion/board/slzn20080806.pdf
or
http://tinyurl.com/6hpqln
Posted by: John T | August 19, 2008 at 09:59 AM