CTA Brown Line Service Disruption, Wells Street Bridge Repairs Beginning Friday

Starting Friday at 10 p.m., riders of the CTA's Brown and Purple Lines -- as well as the Red Line -- may want to consider some alternatives for their Loop commute.

Due to CDOT construction on the 90-year-old Wells Street bridge and concurrent work on rail tracks near the Merchandise Mart, service into the Loop on the Brown Line will be halted from March 1 to March 10, while the Purple Line Express line will also be out of service from March 4 to March 8, as the agency announced last month.

During weekday rush hours of the temporary service reduction, one of every three Brown Line trains will only go as far south as the Merchandise Mart stop. The remaining two will use the Red Line tracks between Fullerton and Roosevelt. Purple Line Express trains will go no further south than Howard and the Red Line is expected to see increased crowding as a result of the closures.

Meanwhile, on weekends and after 10 p.m. on weekdays, Brown Line trains will only be running between Kimball and Chicago.

The CTA will be offering added bus service, shuttle buses and a free Loop shuttle train and has laid out the various options in detail on its website. The CTA Tattler has also rounded up alternatives for Brown Line and Purple Line Express-relient commuters.

Whichever alternatives are preferred, commuters on impacted lines should allow for more travel time.

A second nine-day closure period will also impact riders on the Brown and Purple lines from April 26 to May 5.

Photo by vxla via Flickr.