Earlier today, Roads & Bridges reported on Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s intent to cut funding for transportation the his state over the next six years. Almost as though karma were spring-loaded for action, a major artery of citywide public transit answered—and answered with vigor.
Late last evening, the Yellow Line, which run from the Loop out to suburban Skokie suffered an embankment failure beneath a stretch of track, resulting in an immediate—and indefinite—shutdown of the entire line.
The problem was discovered around 10:15 p.m. Sunday, according to CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase. An embankment that carries trains along McCormick Boulevard between Howard and Oakton Streets became unstable during the construction of a Metropolitan Water Reclamation District project. Disturbance caused the earth to move on the CTA viaduct across McCormick Boulevard during the construction of the disinfection project at the O'Brien water reclamation plant.
Bus shuttles were running from the two Yellow Line stops in Skokie to its terminus in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, where commuters transfer to the city's Purple and Red Lines at the Howard Avenue stop.
The exact cause of the failure is still being investigated; however, concerns have existed previously as to the viability of many stretches of the Chicago Transit Authority’s train network. It remains to be determined if this particular area is such area.
Last year the Yellow Line celebrated its 50th anniversary.
