Chicago Traffic

Tips for Getting Around the Chicago Area This Weekend

Suburban road work, CTA station closures and C2E2 will make for another busy weekend in the Chicago area

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Northbrook and Edens Spur commuters, a big heads-up from the Illinois Tollway Authority: Work crews are going to remove and rebuild the Pfingsten Road Bridge as part of the Edens Spur Improvement Project.

To accommodate the work, the bridge is scheduled to be closed to traffic with a posted detour for six months - that detour starts later this month. But in the meantime, a westbound lane on the Spur itself will closed starting in a couple of days, and watch for a lane reduction at the Waukegan Toll Plaza.

Sticking with the tollways, overnight wire work by ComEd continues to disrupt drivers along I-294. Ramp closures dictated by the utility are ongoing at Countryside, I-290 and North Avenues. The ramps open by 5 a.m. any time there is work at these three points.

Phew! That's the sound of thousands of Chicago North Side CTA riders breathing a sigh of relief that there are no Red Line station closures this weekend. Not so much for Loop riders, though. Four downtown stations will close Saturday night into Sunday morning for some crucial work, CTA officials say.

Other big events that should be on your radar? The C2E2 Convention at McCormick place will draw international crowds. The South Shore Line is anticipating the need, and offering an extra Saturday train in from Northwest Indiana.

And you may have heard that the lakefront is where the action is leading up to a 10 a.m. event on Sunday at North Avenue Beach. That's right, hundreds of brave souls are dipping into Lake Michigan for the annual Polar Plunge. There is not a lot of parking there, so ride hailing services or a taxi will be your best bet.

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