CTA riders prepare for 9 days of interrupted Blue Line service amid repair work

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago Transit Authority is temporarily shutting down parts of its Blue Line service between O'Hare and Rosemont stations.

The work to upgrade the signals along the nearly 40-year-old system begins Friday at 10 p.m. It's expected to be completed by Oct. 7.

"It's going to be bad," said CTA rider Helen Matthew-Smothers. "There's going to be a lot of aggravated people."

The nine days of repairs will also include critical track work, requiring the suspension of service to the two stops.

The CTA will be providing free shuttle buses between O'Hare Terminals 1, 2 and 3 and the Rosemont stop.

Riders connecting to the airport's Terminal 5 should use an O'Hare shuttle bus from the other terminals.

"During the day, the shuttle will operate around every three to five minutes," said CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski. "Overnight, less frequent, upwards of every 10 minutes."

Hosinski urged affected riders to accommodate an extra 20-30 minutes to their travel time.

The repair work is part of the CTA's $207 million improvement project, which transit officials said will eliminate slow zones and outdated stations for the Blue Line service's more than 80,000 daily riders.

But the promise of better service isn't enough for Greta Freeman, who uses public transportation daily.

"It's a big inconvenience, but what can you do?" Freeman said. "You just have to deal with it or find other measures of transport of getting back and forth to work."

The next shutdown will take place sometime next year.