Chicago, Illinois: CTA Halts Loop Elevated Service This Weekend on Four Lines

Chicago riders who cross downtown on the elevated Loop will need a different route this weekend. The Chicago Transit Authority will stop all elevated Loop service for 48 hours, from 4 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24 until 4 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 26, while crews work at the Loop and Lake junction. The Green, Brown, Orange and Pink lines will run in split segments instead of circling the Loop. The underground Red and Blue lines will keep running as normal.

Why the Loop is closing

The Loop and Lake junction, at Wells and Lake streets, is the largest elevated rail interlocking in the CTA system, and it supports all elevated rail service in the Loop. The work is tied to the Chicago Department of Transportation Lake Street Bridge replacement project. In its announcement, titled "CTA To Revitalize Key Track and Interlocking Infrastructure at Loop and Lake Junction This Weekend," the agency set out the weekend plan for riders. The full shutdown follows weeks of narrower work in the same area. Green and Pink line service between Clinton and Clark/Lake has been disrupted since Oct. 12, and that phase is scheduled to end on Friday, Oct. 23, one day before the broader Loop shutdown begins.

How each line will run

Green Line trains will run between Harlem/Lake and Clinton, and separately between Roosevelt and the South Side terminals. Brown Line trains will operate between Kimball and Merchandise Mart. Orange Line service will run between Midway and Roosevelt. Pink Line trains will run between 54th/Cermak and the Racine Blue Line station, but not around the Loop. No elevated trains will serve the Loop stations themselves during the closure.

Buses and backup routes

Shuttle buses will cover the gaps the split lines leave behind. Buses will connect Clinton and Roosevelt, link Merchandise Mart with Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren, and run between Roosevelt and Clinton for Orange Line riders heading toward the Loop. Riders also have rail transfers that avoid the closed section. South Side Green Line riders can change to the Red Line at Roosevelt. Brown Line riders can connect to the Red Line at Belmont or Fullerton. Pink Line riders can transfer to the Blue Line at Racine. CTA buses will follow their regular weekend schedules, the agency said.

What riders should do before Saturday

The CTA says it is putting signage, customer alerts and platform announcements in place for the weekend, and it advises riders to allow extra travel time and plan an alternate route before they leave. Anyone whose trip normally depends on an elevated Loop station should check their line segment, their shuttle connection and their transfer station ahead of Saturday morning. Regular elevated service is scheduled to resume at 4 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 26.