CTA No. 9 Ashland bus route extended north, connected to Ravenswood Metra station
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A popular CTA bus route on the North Side has been extended one mile north, connecting it to a newly renovated Metra station.
For decades, the No. 9 Ashland Avenue bus route went only as far north as Irving Park Road before turning east to Clark Street, at the west end of Graceland Cemetery. On Tuesday, the bus line was extended north to the Ravenswood Metra station at Lawrence and Ravenswood avenues.
The extension adds a total of nine new bus stops every two blocks. The CTA said the new route will offer bus service to an additional 21,000 people. It will also allow for connections to the No. 78 Montrose and No. 81 Lawrence buses.
"There are portions of our community that aren't as transit-served as others – in particular, ones that area little further bit away from our 'L' stations. So to be able to extend this more than a mile has been hugely helpful," Ald. Matt Martin (47th) said. "Thousands of additional residents are going to have access to bus service to get them up to the Ravenswood Metra station, as well as down south."
The No. 9 Ashland Avenue bus runs as far south as 104th Street and Vincennes Avenue in East Beverly from 6 a.m. to 9:10 p.m. and 2:35 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. weekdays, and as far south as 95th Street and Ashland Avenue the rest of the time—except for overnight hours.
Overnight service also runs along North Avenue between Ashland Avenue and Clark Street, and 95th Street between Ashland Avenue and the Dan Ryan Expressway.
Ashland Avenue runs well to the north of the point where its bus line terminates. The No. 50 Damen bus runs on a short stretch of Ashland Avenue farther north from Foster Avenue to Edgewater Avenue.
Ashland Avenue merges with Clark Street and disappears for about 0.75 mile between Rosehill Drive in Edgewater and Devon Avenue at the Edgewater-Rogers Park line. This area, like the rest of Clark Street, is served by the No. 22 bus.
North of Devon Avenue through Rogers Park, Ashland Avenue resumes as a two-lane residential street—which jogs at several intersections, and is interrupted at Willie B. Whyte Park north of Howard Street before finally terminating at Juneway Terrace. There is no bus on this stretch of Ashland Avenue.
There is also no bus on Ashland Avenue below 95th Street, except a half-mile northbound turnaround route for the No. 111 111th/King Drive bus between 115th and 119th streets.