Lane closures start Friday for new Union Station Transit Center

Lane closures start Friday on Canal Street and Jackson Boulevard downtown as work begins on Union Station’s new CTA bus facility.

When it opens in spring 2016, the Union Station Transit Center will be a new off-street facility on Jackson between Canal and Clinton, with sheltered staging areas for CTA buses, according to a statement from the Chicago Dept. of Transportation.

Riders will also be able to use the transit center to connect to Loop Link, downtown’s bus rapid-transit project currently under construction.

The transit center will also have an elevator to an existing Amtrak pedway underground, allowing pedestrians to transfer to Union Station while protected from the weather, CDOT said.

Crews working on the project will start closing lanes this Friday before the morning rush, transit officials said.

Eastbound Jackson between Clinton and Canal will be temporarily reduced to only two through lanes with no parking lanes, CDOT said. The right turn from Jackson onto southbound Canal will be permanently eliminated.

Northbound traffic on Canal from Van Buren to Jackson will also be temporarily reduced to two lanes, CDOT said.

A CTA bus stop on Jackson west of Canal will be relocated across the intersection to the east side of Canal, and another bus stop on Canal south of Jackson will be eliminated.

Access to the Union Station Parking Garage will no longer be available from Jackson, but drivers can get in via Canal and Clinton, CDOT said.

Travelers should allow extra time getting to and from Union Station during construction.