CTA Work To Snag Traffic At Sheffield Avenue And Roscoe Street This Week
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The area around Sheffield Avenue and Roscoe Street just south of Wrigley Field in Lakeview will be partially closed for the next several days for work on the CTA 'L' structure.
The CTA said between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, a rivet removal project will be under way at the intersection as part of the Chicago Transit Authority Red and Purple Modernization project.
Sheffield Avenue will be closed to cars and bicycles while the work is in progress, and the sidewalk on the west side of the street will also be closed. The sidewalk on the east side of the street will remain open.
On Roscoe Street, which runs one way westbound, there will be traffic lane shifts with flagger assistance during the work hours. The sidewalk on the north side of Roscoe Street will be closed, while the sidewalk on the east side of the street will stay open.
Parking will also be banned on both sides of Roscoe Street from Sheffield Avenue to Clark Street.
The contractor for the work will maintain access to homes and businesses.
The CTA also noted that the work will be noisy. It will involve general construction noise, beeping for backup alarms on maintenance equipment and vehicles, the use of rivet removal equipment to take out old metal rivets, and the use of air compressors, generators, and pneumatic and gas tools.
The CTA is in the process of building the Belmont Flyover structure, officially known as the Red-Purple Bypass, which will provide an alternate path for Brown Line trains that now have to cross over the Red and Purple line tracks when the lines spilt off at Roscoe Street. The CTA estimates the project, once completed, will allow for eight more Red Line trains per hour during rush hour periods and increase Red and Purple Line trains speeds by 60 percent in the area.
A reconstruction of the Red and Purple Line elevated trestle north of Belmont Avenue will follow.
The area near Sheffield and Roscoe sees heavy foot traffic on Cubs game days and some surface parking lots catering to fans are located nearby, but the Cubs will be out of town playing the Cardinals in St. Louis throughout the four-day rivet removal operation.
