Dec. 14--A new CTA express bus service designed to speed up travel through downtown Chicago will begin next week, city officials said Monday.
Called Loop Link, the service will operate on red bus-only lanes on Madison, Washington, Clinton and Canal streets between Michigan Avenue and the West Loop.
About 1,000 buses each weekday will make limited stops at eight bus rapid transit stations, officials said.
Loop Link will be launched Sunday, although the first test will come Monday morning when hordes of commuters arriving downtown at CTA and Metra rail stations will transfer to CTA buses on Loop Link corridors.
The CTA and city transportation officials are hopeful that the $32 million Loop Link project will at least cut in half bus travel times across the central business district, ease traffic congestion and improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Drivers will have fewer lanes, but general traffic lanes that were reduced for construction during most of this year will reopen for cars on Madison and Washington, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation.
Only seven of the eight new bus stations will open next week, and station work will continue through early 2016, CDOT said.
A bus transit center next to Union Station on Jackson Boulevard at Canal is scheduled to open next spring.
jhilkevitch@tribpub.com
