CTA set to begin Blue Line track work, impacting travel to O’Hare on the weekends

Travelers heading to O’Hare Airport on weekends may need to budget extra time as the CTA plans to shut down multiple Blue Line stations for track work, beginning at the end of February.

The Belmont, Logan Square and California stations will be closed starting the weekend of Feb. 24 as the transit agency begins replacing critical track components, according to a statement released Friday.

Those stations will remain either entirely or partially closed on weekends, possibly until late-May.

The work will provide better service on one of the highest-ridership branches of the ‘L’ and limit future delays once completed, the CTA said.

Crews will replace the 50-year-old Belmont crossover, a component that allows the CTA to move trains between sets of tracks. Due to the decades of use, “repairs are no longer an option,” and a complete crossover replacement is needed, the statement said.

Work will take place primarily between 10 p.m. on Fridays and 4 a.m. Monday mornings, so as not to impact weekday commutes, the agency said.

Shuttle buses will be provided between the Addison and Western stations on the O’Hare branch.