Bus Project to Ease Congestion, Modernize Traffic Flow, Improve Loop Connections to Neighborhoods;  Construction Also Starting on Washington-Wabash CTA Station 

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) announced today that lane closures currently in effect on Madison St. for the Loop Link Link project will be extended for several blocks starting early Friday morning.

The Loop Link project is designed to modernize the Loop’s transit infrastructure and make bus travel faster and more reliable for the roughly 30,000 bus commuters that travel across the corridor and at Union Station each day, and provide a balanced separation of bus, bike and regular traffic lanes.

CDOT announced that the construction zone currently in place on Madison St. between State St. and Clark St. will be extended from LaSalle St. to Wacker Drive. Two lanes will be open to traffic along the south side of Madison and a construction zone will put in place along the north side of Madison.

Streets under construction will be reduced to two lanes during weekday business hours. There will be the need for periodic additional lane closures overnight and on weekends.

People driving downtown can expect delays in areas where lanes are reduced to two lanes and motorists are sharing lanes with buses during construction. Although no detours are planned and all garages and alleys will remain accessible, those driving should allow extra time when traveling through the construction zone and should consider using alternate routes through the Loop.

The Loop Link project is scheduled for substantial completion by the end of 2015.

Improvements being installed as part of the Loop Link include: red-colored pavement and enhanced signage clearly delineating the bus lanes; raised boarding platforms at eight, spacious new stations with large canopies for protection from the elements on Washington and Madison to provide easier level-boarding; early green lights for buses at key intersections to get ahead of traffic; bus tracker screens, and generous amounts of seating for waiting customers.

Work on Washington St. and Canal St. is scheduled to begin later this spring.

More than 1,000 bus trips will traverse the Loop Link each day. The buses on the Loop Link serve a number of Chicago neighborhoods, including South Shore, Little Village, Austin and Logan Square to name a few, and the services make critical links to Union Station, Ogilvie Transportation Center, CTA subways and Navy Pier.

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