Improving telecommunications systemwide and service quality on the Brown Line rail on the Northwest Side are resulting in major construction projects on the Chicago Transit Authority system.

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In September, a $31 million project was started to improve the CTA's telecommunications.

Previous telecom upgrades have been completed.

Meantime, the long-awaited, $530 million enhancement of the Brown Line system started in February.

In addition to these, other CTA projects are nearing completion or recently finished (see the accompanying Sidebarstory.)

Transit Telecom

Improving communication technology quality and security are key goals of the telecommunications work, which is formally known as the CTA Systemwide Communications Upgrade Project.

Ray Clark, senior project manager of Libertyville-based prime contractor Aldridge Electric Inc., said the project includes the installation of fiber-optic cable at some CTA rail stations and operations facilities and along some tracks.

About 300,000 to 400,000 lin. ft. of the cable--called optical carrier 192 line--is being installed to carry voice, video and data.

The cable's capacity is so vast that it could carry 9.95 thousand million bits of information per second.

"It would fill up a computer with information in a second," said Tom McLinden, vice president of business development for Aldridge. The CTA has multiple servers to handle the data.

Robyn Ziegler, a spokeswoman for the CTA, said uses include the enhanced video monitoring of stations by security cameras, upgraded audio for announcements over the public-address system and improved transmission of voice and data.

The project is affecting rails on the city's South Side (Orange and Green lines), West Side (Blue Line Congress, Green Line Lake) and North Side (Purple, Red, Yellow and O'Hare Blue).

The cable will be buried about 3.5 to 4 ft. in the ground, supported along elevated structures or put in existing subway tunnels.

"I would say the majority of it is in the ground," Clark said. "People think of the CTA is elevated, but a lot of it is at grade."

Scheduling and nimbleness have been used to minimize the project's impact on commuters.

For example, train service shuts on some lines, such as the Purple and Yellow, during the wee hours of the morning, and crews can get work done during those periods.

Crews can also lay cable while only a single track on a line is used in each direction to move trains. Trains would be switched to the track that normally carries trains in the opposite direction while the trains in the opposite direction wait.

The cable crews will also piggyback on other crews that are performing maintenance.

For instance, the Purple Line in Evanston was shut over a weekend in the winter so an old bridge could be replaced, and cable was installed during the same weekend.

"We went in with 45 to 50 people, and we put all our underground cable in over one weekend," Clark said.

To ensure safety, construction employees are required to take a one-day course covering working in a rail environment, and no one is allowed onsite without his or her certification. Aldridge also conducted in-house safety programs.

A major issue for the team is that the CTA's existing telecommunications services, such as telephone and public address, be maintained during construction.

Dual and temporary systems were installed to maintain constant communication, Clark said.

"We'll set up temporary communications, give all the phones temporary extensions, hook in to the new phones while still maintaining the old and cross them over one at a time," he added.

Previous telecom work included an $11 million project completed in 2003 for the installation of cable on the Blue Line from O'Hare International Airport to Jackson Boulevard in the Loop.

Also, telecommunication cable and other electrical systems were installed for $90 million on the Red Line from the 98th Street yard to 22nd Street as part of an overall $250 million project on the South Side. The installation of electrical systems was completed in December, but the overall project is expected to finish in September.

The Brown Out

As the telecom project continues, stations on the Brown Line are being upgraded in part because of increased ridership.

Since 1979, the number of riders has increased about 83 percent on the century-old line, according to the CTA, and the 18-station system averages more than 66,000 passengers each weekday.

Most stations accommodate six-car trains--other than the Merchandise Mart, Fullerton and Belmont stops, which can handle eight cars--and a key goal is to extend 15 stations for the longer trains to improve passenger flow, said Sheila Gregory, general manager of public affairs for the CTA. Because additional power is required to operate eight-car trains, substations are being upgraded as part of the project.

The rebuilt stations will provide better amenities than are currently available, including wider entrances and exists, additional turnstiles and access for those with disabilities.

Also included will be things customers are only partly aware of--tactile edging, windbreaks, canopies and improved lighting.

A major concern is the limited space for work and the nearness of businesses and residences to the line.

"Much of the work that requires street closures or obstructions so materials and equipment can be staged will be done during nighttime working hours or condensed into a 54-hour weekend," Gregory said.

Fifteen stations will temporarily close at some point between now and 2009, when the entire project will finish, on a staggered schedule for weeks or more so work can be done.

For instance, the Kedzie and Rockwell stations closed on Feb. 20 for six months.

Work includes demolishing the station and platform, installing platform precast foundations, steel framing, electrical, wood decking with tactile strip and equipment, signage and barricades.

Some weekend closures of stations are planned. Only the Belmont, Fullerton and Western stations will maintain regular schedules during the project.

Chicago-based FHP Tectonics is the general contractor for three bid packages: Belmont/Fullerton,Chicago/Armitage/

Sedgwick and Kimball/Kedzie/Francisco/Rockwell/Western. The bid documents have been issued for the Irving Park/

Damen/Addison and Montrose stations, but the Wellington/Diversey/Paulina/
Southport and Brown Line telecommunication packages have not yet been bid.

Sidebar : Red Line Nearly Done; New Route Coming

Two other major projects are nearing completion or done on the Chicago Transit Authority: