The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) announced today that the lane closure on westbound Madison Street between Michigan and Wabash will be lifted early Sunday with the opening of the eighth Loop Link CTA bus platform, on Madison just east of Wabash. 

Work to complete the finishing touches on some of the eight new raised CTA bus boarding stations will continue over the coming weeks. The distinctive bus boarding platforms feature large canopies for improved weather protection, raised elevation for easier boarding, CTA Bus Tracker screens, more seating for customers and a snow melt system to make it easier to keep the platforms clear of snow and ice.

The newly opened platform will initially only be accessible from the east end of the platform at Garland Court due to ongoing work on Wabash on the Washington Wabash CTA train station. The west end of the platform is scheduled to be opened in late summer.

The Loop Link, which started service December 20th, is designed to provide a balanced separation of CTA bus, bike and regular traffic with dedicated red CTA bus only lanes on Washington, Madison, Clinton and Canal.

The new configuration improves reliability and speed for six CTA bus routes that travel the corridor and will extend benefits to neighborhoods throughout the City where the routes originate. The six routes are the #J14, #20, #56, #60, #124 and #157. A seventh route, the #19, provides service to and from the United Center on event days, such as Bulls and Blackhawks home games.

City officials urge motorists to pay close attention to lane markings and new signage in the Loop Link corridor. Cars and trucks, except for emergency vehicles, are prohibited from driving in the red CTA bus-only lanes. Bicycles are also prohibited from using the CTA bus lanes.

Work on the Canal Street leg of the Loop Link is scheduled to be completed in summer 2016. A new westbound bike lane will be installed on Randolph Street later this year. In addition, work is continuing this year on the Union Station Transit Center, a new off-street CTA bus-boarding center just south of Union Station that will help relieve traffic congestion around the train station that serves 120,000 people each day. It’s scheduled for completion this summer.

Another major ongoing downtown transportation project that will continue through 2016 is the new Washington Wabash CTA station that will replace two century-old stations at Madison and Randolph with a single state-of-the art, fully accessible station with wider platforms.

For more information on the Loop Link, go to www.ChicagoLoopLink.com

You can also follow CDOT on digital media:

Twitter:  @ChicagoDOT

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The web chicagodot.org