CTA Backtracks On Plan To Close Wrigleyville 'L' Stop On Cubs' Opening Day
(CBS) -- Maybe it was a White Sox fan's idea of an April Fool's joke.
For a while Thursday, it appeared that Cub fans were in for a rude Opening Day surprise from the CTA, and that the transit agency was courting a public relations disaster. But the transit agency claims it was all a mistake.
A customer alert that was posted Thursday afternoon on the CTA website said Red Line trains would bypass Addison northbound between 10:50 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. Friday, despite the 1:20 p.m. Opening Day start.
CTA media relations personnel dutifully advised riders to use the Sheridan stop instead, and to either walk south to Wrigley Field or catch a southbound train back to Addison.
But shortly after WBBM inquired, the CTA began to backtrack quickly.
The alert was abruptly canceled. And a short time later, a CTA spokesperson insisted that the work was never planned -- it was merely a clerical error entered into an automated database and that all will be normal.
Opening Day 'L' service is a big deal. An estimated 15,000 fans used the stop for Opening Day last year.
CTA has been trying to catch up on track work postponed by bad weather over the winter, and a spokesperson said the work at Addison has been rescheduled several times.
The work will get done – just not on Opening Day.