Falling Concrete From Red Line Viaduct Damages Cars In Rogers Park
CHICAGO (CBS)-- Two parked cars were damaged by large chunks of concrete that fell Thursday morning from a viaduct holding up a set of Red Line tracks in the Rogers Park neighborhood.
Police said the concrete fell from CTA property on the 7100 block of North Glenwood Avenue around 4:45 a.m.
One car's roof was almost completely crushed by large slabs of concrete. An SUV's rear window was shattered by another large slab of concrete that caused major damage to its rear right side.
The owner of one of the damaged cars said he couldn't believe it when he saw what happened.
"I was upset. I'm like, I'm trying to get to work. What's going on? Why would this happen to me? But it could have been worse," Larry Evans said.
Evans said someone could have died if they had been inside the cars at the time.
A CTA spokesperson said the concrete fell from the east retaining wall of the elevated Red Line and Purple Line tracks that run between the northbound and southbound lanes of Glenwood. The CTA said the concrete experienced what is known as "spalling," when pieces of concrete start to fall off due to its age.
According to the CTA, there are no structural issues as a result of the fallen concrete, and Red and Purple line trains were running normally Thursday morning.
Several cars parked near where the concrete fell were blocked off by caution tape, including cars that had no visible damage.
CTA crews have been out at the scene, waiting to remove the chunks of concrete from the damaged cars.
A CTA spokesperson says the wall will eventually be replaced as part of the Red and Purple lines modernization program.
