The CTA, at its board meeting Wednesday, said it will spend $14.7 million to speed up the repair of slow zones on the Blue and Red Lines.
By the end of the year, the CTA will eliminate all slow zones on the Blue Line between Division and Grand, and on the Red Line between Clark/Division and Grand. A larger project to repair the slow zones from Addison to O'Hare will soon go out to bid, but it's not clear whether the CTA will have money to pay for the work, which could be completed in 15 months.
The Blue Line has been "hemorrhaging" riders on the slow zone-riddled O'Hare branch, CTA President Ron Huberman said Wednesday. Ridership was down nearly 5 percent in May, compared to the same period last year.
So clearly, riders aren't just complaining about delays. They're finding other ways to get where they're going.
That's ironic. Just last week I gave up the CTA for good and went back to driving. I don't think the slow-zone repairs are gonna last. They already did the alternating-track thing earlier this year and the slow zones persisted.
No point in repairing anything if nobody can afford to ride it in two month's time.