This year’s Lollapalooza festival will have Chicago streets flowing with fans, but several streets in the South Loop will be closed to traffic thanks to the weekend festival.
Several streets bordering Grant Park will be blocked throughout the weekend, and some will remain closed into next week for the sold out festival, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
Officials said Columbus Drive will be closed from Monroe to Roosevelt until 4 p.m. Monday. Balbo Avenue will be closed from Michigan Avenue to Lake Shore Drive through next Thursday.
Jackson will also be closed from Michigan Avenue to Lake Shore Drive. Those closures will remain in effect until Wednesday.
Congress Parkway, including the Congress Circle, will also be blocked from Michigan Avenue to Columbus Drive, officials said.
Traffic aides will be in place to navigate drivers through the closures, but officials are encouraging riders to use public transportation.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
CTA officials say Friday will be especially congested because of Lollapalooza and the Chicago Bears Family Fest at Soldier Field.
The CTA will operate longer trains on the Blue, Brown, Green, Orange and Red lines until at least 10 p.m., and longer trains and more frequent service on Saturday and Sunday until 10 p.m. or later.
Blue Line: On Friday, longer trains will operate to downtown until 11 p.m. Between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. trains will operate approximately every 8 minutes. On Saturday and Sunday, longer trains will operate beginning 1:30 p.m. until 11:30 p.m.
Brown Line: On Friday, longer trains will operate until 11 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday, longer trains will operate beginning at noon until 11 p.m.
Green Line: On Friday, longer trains will operate from Harlem/Lake until 10 p.m., and until 11 p.m. from 63rd/Cottage. On Saturday and Sunday, beginning 10 a.m., longer trains will operate from Harlem/Lake until 10 p.m., and until 11 p.m. from 63rd/Cottage.
Orange Line: On Friday, longer trains will operate until 10:45 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday, longer trains will operate beginning 10 a.m. until 10:45 p.m.
Pink and Purple Lines: Trains will operate on a normal schedule all weekend.
Red Line: On Friday between 6 p.m. and midnight, longer trains will be provided and operate approximately every 6 minutes. On Saturday and Sunday, longer trains will be provided until 1 a.m., and between the hours of 6:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. trains will operate approximately every 6 minutes.
Yellow Line: All weekend, service hours will be extended with trains operating from Howard until 1 a.m.
Local
This year’s festival kicks off Friday in Grant Park and will feature weekend performances by headliners like Eminem, Skrillex, Kings of Leon and Arctic Monkeys.
Last year, city officials and festival organizers reported a crowd of 100,000 people attended the weekend festivities each day, setting a new record for the event.
