Green and Pink Line trains stay out of the Loop until Wednesday as Lake Street bridge work runs long

CDOT says connecting the new bridge leaf took longer than planned. Last year, Ald. Brian Hopkins told CDOT that four river bridges closed at once were causing severe congestion; the department testifies again Thursday.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Oct 26, 2026

Green and Pink Line trains will not run normally into the Loop until 4 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, two days later than planned, because crews ran into problems connecting a new section of the Lake Street bridge to the old one, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the CTA announced Sunday, Block Club Chicago reported. CDOT cited the complexity of joining the new and old bridge leaves and alignment issues crews did not expect, CBS Chicago reported.

Why it matters: the outage has run since Oct. 13, according to CBS, and it affects riders from the West Side and the South Side Green Line branches who commute downtown. It is also not the last one.

How to get around until Wednesday

According to Block Club and the Sun-Times:

Green Line, west branch: trains run between Harlem/Lake and Clinton. Free shuttle buses connect Clinton and Clark/Lake.
Green Line, south branch: trains run from Ashland/63rd and Cottage Grove into the Loop, make all Loop stops in the same direction as the Orange Line, and head back south.
Pink Line: trains do not run in the Loop. Riders transfer to the Blue Line at Racine.

The separate weekend shutdown of all Loop 'L' service for track work at the Lake and Wells junction, known as Tower 18, ended as scheduled at 4 a.m. Monday, CBS reported.

The bigger project

The Lake Street bridge over the Chicago River has been closed to cars and pedestrians for about a year and is expected to stay closed until January 2028, according to the Sun-Times. Another two-week Green and Pink Line outage is planned for spring, Block Club reported.

What our records add

Members have complained about stacked bridge closures. At last year's Department of Transportation budget hearing, on Oct. 22, 2025, Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said four river bridges closed at the same time was unprecedented and had caused severe congestion (watch at 5:38:34). He said the closures lacked coordination with the Illinois Department of Transportation and a regional plan to manage congestion (5:40:25), and asked CDOT for an expedited congestion mitigation plan (5:43:25).

Bridge money was part of a divided bond vote. In February 2025, the Council passed a bond ordinance (SO2025-0014841) allowing up to $830 million in borrowing for streets, sidewalks, bridges and other infrastructure, 26 to 23. At the Finance Committee, City staff listed bridges among the programs the bonds would cover (watch at 1:34:02), and Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) asked for lists of the bridges, underpasses and resurfacing projects before the Council voted (3:31:05). Our records do not tie the Lake Street project to that bond specifically.

How each ward voted

24 yea, 23 nay, 1 not voting · Feb 26, 2025 · Passed

Yea Nay Not voting

SO2025-0014841: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

What's next

CDOT and the CTA say full Green and Pink Line service returns by 4 a.m. Wednesday. The Department of Transportation testifies at the Council's budget hearings on Thursday, Oct. 29 (meeting page), where members can ask about the bridge schedule, the spring outage and how it will be coordinated with other closures.