Ready or not, the Red Line South reconstruction starts Sunday. Until Oct. 19, nine South Side Red Line stations will close as crews rebuild the line south of Roosevelt Road.
During this $425 million project, which is expected to rid the southern Red Line of slow zones, the CTA will run free shuttles from closed Red Line stations to the Garfield Green Line stop and operate Red Line trains on Green Line tracks.
There will be headaches as thousands of commuters are rerouted during the next five months. The CTA has posted alternatives at transitchicago.com/redsouth. To prepare for this project, RedEye has assembled nine facts about the southern section of the Red Line-one for each station that is closing for construction.
1. The southern section of the Red Line opened Sept. 28, 1969. On that day, the Kansas City Royals beat the White Sox 10-3, while the Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1. The Cubs roster included Ron Santo, Ernie Banks and Billy Williams. The '69 Cubs team would go on to experience a faster deterioration than the Red Line, holding on to first place for 155 days before finishing second to the New York Mets in the NL East.
2. The Dan Ryan Red Line branch cost $38 million to build more than 40 years ago, more than $240 million in today's currency. It will cost the CTA $425 million to rebuild. The difference in prices is about the amount of the $180 million contract extension Justin Verlander signed with the Detroit Tigers this year. While Verlander has been linked to supermodel Kate Upton, the CTA hopes to eventually link the rehabbed Red Line to future stations south of 95th Street.
3. When it opened, the Dan Ryan branch had skip-stop service, in which trains would alternate between stops for express service. It's been a while since trains along the Dan Ryan could be considered express. This month, 45 percent of Dan Ryan track has been under slow zone, meaning trains run 35 mph or slower. The majority of this section has trains running at 15 mph, which is about how fast some Olympic athletes can run. No gold medal for you, CTA.
4. In the early '90s, the CTA connected the Dan Ryan branch to the northern Red Line branch that terminates at Howard Street. To tell riders about this development, the agency created "HoDar," a fictional character and mnemonic device that stood for "Howard-Dan Ryan." The name for the upcoming rehab project is the less amusing "Red Line South" and its accompanying Twitter handle @RedLineSouth.
5. Three stations-Garfield, 63rd, and 87th Street-will get elevators to make them accessible for riders with disabilities. When the project is over, 97 of 145 stations will be accessible. As the Meat Loaf song goes, "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad."
6. 45,000 riders pay fares at Red Line South stations on an average March weekday. That's about the number of people who participated in the world's largest tomato fight last year in Spain.
7. It currently takes 31 minutes to ride the Red Line from Cermak-Chinatown to the 95th Street stop-just enough time to watch a "What Would Ryan Lochte Do?" episode and scratch your head. The CTA says the project will cut commutes between 95th and Roosevelt by up to 20 minutes-just enough time to watch only the commercials in a "What Would Ryan Lochte Do?" episode and nod along because English is your first language.
8. The last time the CTA closed multiple stations for a large-scale rehabilitation project was in January 1994, when the Green Line was shuttered until May 1996. Not all the work was done at reopening, but nine stationhouses were ready, the Tribune reported at the time. The Red Line project will concern the same number of stations but will take about a fifth of the time to complete.
9. If you add up all the rail the CTA is installing for this project, you get 76.5 miles-the approximate distance between Chicago and Racine, Wis. That city is known for its Kringle, Danish pastries filled with nuts or fruits. There are plenty of nuts along the Red Line, from the convenience store at the 95th Street stop to the concession stands at U.S. Cellular Field.