CHICAGO — Tens of thousands will descend upon Downtown for Sunday's Chicago Marathon, and the CTA is expanding service to accommodate runners and spectators who want to take public transportation.
The marathon begins at 7:15 a.m. for wheelchair racers, and 7:30 a.m. for runners, kicking off at Jackson Drive and Columbus Drive. There will be added security measures in place, precautions following the Boston Marathon bombing in April
FOR A MAP OF THE ROUTE CLICK HERE FOR A PDF.
The CTA is adding extra train cars, and warned of extra travel time since many bus routes are affected by the marathon route.
RAIL SERVICE
Blue, Orange and Red Lines
The CTA is adding cars to trains running on these lines during marathon hours, while Red Line service is increased.
Brown Line
Trains will begin running at 5 a.m., with added cars.
Green Line
Trains will operate eralier, leaving Harlem/Lake at 5:30 a.m. and 63rd/Cottage Grove at 5:40 a.m. There will be added cars to accomodate crowds.
Orange Line
Trains will begin running at the regular Sunday start time; longer trains will start running at 5:30 a.m. from Midway.
Purple Line
Trains will leave from Linden at 5:30 a.m., running to Howard, where riders can transfer to the Red Line to Downtown.
BUS SERVICE
More than 30 bus routes are affected by the marathon, with intermittent reroutes across the city. The CTA is providing earlier service on the #3 King Drive. From 5:30 a.m. until about 8:30 a.m., #3 buses will run every 15 minutes between McCormick Place and Walton/Mies van der Rohe.
Those reroutes? They'll be in effect Downtown from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; on the North Side from 6:30 a.m. to noon; on the West Side from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the South Side.
The following routes are affected:
#3 King Drive
#4 Cottage Grove
#5 Jackson Park Express
#8 Halsted
#9 Ashland
#10 Museum of Science & Industry
#12 Roosevelt
#J14 Jeffery Jump
#18 16th/18th
#20 Madison
#21 Cermak
#22 Clark
#R22 Cermak-Roosevelt Express Shuttle
#29 State
#35 31st/35th
#36 Broadway
#44 Wallace/Racine
#50 Damen
#56 Milwaukee
#60 Blue Island/26th
#62 Archer
#65 Grand
#66 Chicago
#70 Division
#72 North
#74 Fullerton
#76 Diversey
#77 Belmont
#124 Navy Pier
#126 Jackson
#146 Inner Drive/Michigan Express
#147 Outer Drive Express
#151 Sheridan
#152 Addison
