The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is getting set to repair some of its Green Line tracks in Oak Park and Austin.
The CTA recently authorized $13m in improvements to be made to the right-of-way in the two suburbs.
Work on the ‘L’ tracks is scheduled to begin in March, 2016, and will consist of upgrades to the track infrastructure between the Harlem/Lake and Laramie Avenue stations. Although the details of the exact construction schedule are not yet known, the CTA has said work will be done on weekends, and at night, when the trains are not in service.
According to the CTA, the last time major track work was done in the area was in the 1980s, when a 2.5-mile stretch in Oak Park and on the West Side was improved. CTA says that more than 75% of the ties in this section are either approaching the end of their useful lives, or have now exceeded that time limit.
Dorval Carter Jr., president of the CTA, said that modernizing the system's infrastructure is vital to having a transit system that remains world class. He added that the upgrades will allow the agency to provide reliable, affordable service to customers on the West Side, where more than nine million people rode last year.
When the repair schedule is finalized, the CTA might work with a flyer printing company on a mailer for area residents with the timeline of the work and any difference it will make in the schedule.
