Old Man Winter gives way to Long, Slow Spring for CTA Riders

Chicago residents and businesses are reluctantly readying themselves for a long, slow spring once the Chicago Transit Authority's service changes take effect April 2.

The CTA plans to compensate for impending train service cuts mainly by boosting bus service along seven major routes, they explained in a Feb. 14 press release. Brown Line construction at the Belmont and Fullerton stations, starting in April and expected to last through 2009, will close one track along the North Side corridor and force the CTA to cut nine trains from their morning schedule and 24 trains from their evening schedule.

Local community watchdog groups insist that the CTA take accountability for the thousands of commuters affected by these changes.

"People in the community are not pleased," said Jason Liechty, an Edgewater Community Council spokesman. "We get all the downsides and none of the positives," referring to the fact that Edgewater houses a portion of the Red Line but does not include any Brown Line stops.

Other measures to combat commuting woes outlined by the CTA include operating the Purple Line counter-clockwise around the Loop to allow passengers waiting for a Brown Line to board either route and increasing service on the Blue Line near downtown.<!--more-->

CTA President Frank Kruesi said in the release that the agency would observe traffic patterns and "add capacity where and when it is most needed," suggesting that the CTA would take a wait-and-see approach before adding additional buses on other routes.

Anne Kamykowski, Executive Director of the Ravenswood Community Council, said that several local aldermen involved in the Brown Line Task Force were meeting regularly with CTA officials to address potential problems. Hesitance on the CTA's part to acknowledge how much time the changes would tack on to commutes is a big issue, she added.

"If [CTA President] Frank Kruesi is an hour late to work because of the CTA, who cares?" she said. "A housekeeper at the Hilton, who has to take two buses and a train to get to work, she'll be fired if she's late."

Downtown businesses expect that CTA changes will affect many of their employees' commutes and say they will do their best to accommodate longer trips during the first few weeks after the change.

"We will be lenient because no one knows what they delays are going to be," said Robin Bresemann, manager of Pearl Art and Craft Supplies at 225 W. Chicago Ave. The store has 18 employees and all but a handful of them use the CTA to get to work. "That said, in a business situation, that flexibility can be abused, so we have to be careful."

MEETING SCHEDULE"

The CTA has scheduled four community meetings in March to explain the impending service changes, all to be held from 6 to 8 p.m.:

• March 12, Lane Technical High School auditorium, 2501 W. Addison St.

• March 15, Agassiz Elementary School auditorium, 2851 N. Seminary Ave.

• March 19, Truman College cafeteria, 1145 W. Wilson Ave.

• March 26, CTA headquarters, 567 W. Lake St.