May 20--The CTA says the Yellow Line that serves commuters between Skokie and Chicago will remain closed for the rest of the week.
In the meantime the CTA, the village of Skokie, ComEd and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago are working together to discuss short- and long-term reconstruction plans, according to Allison Fore, spokeswoman for MWRD.
"The immediate plan is to stabilize the area and build the bank back up to allow ComEd to make repairs and to ensure no further deterioration of the site," Fore wrote in an email Tuesday. "Crews are working 24 hours per day in order to get the trains running."
Officials hope to have a better idea of when the line will open later this week, CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase said.
The line was closed late Sunday night when an embankment collapsed along McCormick Boulevard between Howard and Oakton streets in Skokie. The collapse was due to a failure of the earth retention system during the construction of the disinfection facility at the O'Brien Water Reclamation Plant, Fore said.
Between 9:20 and 9:40 p.m. Sunday, Yellow Line operators notified the CTA control center of a small bend in the rail and of downed power lines, Chase said. It is unclear whether the embankment had already given way. Rail service was suspended and replaced by shuttle bus service soon after.
The CTA will continue to offer shuttle service for Yellow Line riders, Chase said Tuesday. The CTA is also encouraging riders to consider the 97 Skokie bus.
The Yellow Line has the smallest ridership of the CTA's eight lines, according to online data. Last year, 986,000 passengers entered Yellow Line stations. During weekdays on average, about 2,900 use the line.
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