Metra will be out of service for a second day on Tuesday, while the CTA and Pace both imposed multiple service cutbacks and a second overnight shutdown after a weekend of mass looting and violent clashes with police downtown and in other areas.
The transit shutdowns, along with closures of highway ramps and portions of Lake Shore Drive, made it tough for some essential workers to get to and from work on Monday.
While CTA trains and buses resumed running on Monday morning, service was limited in a wide area, not just downtown, according to its website. The CTA announced that it would shut down transit service again on Monday evening at 9:35 p.m. until 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
Pace also suspended service on Monday evening between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Tuesday. It had not offered service to downtown Chicago during the day.
The CTA said on its website that all service cuts were “at the request of public officials.” The CTA was shut down altogether on Sunday night, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot said during a news conference on Monday that this was in part because people were threatening riders and attempting to commandeer buses.
The mayor’s office said access to the Loop and downtown will only be granted to people who work for businesses there or live there or who are engaged in essential activities.
Some CTA riders complained to the agency on social media that service interruptions were making it hard for them to get to work. All CTA service changes are on its website.
On the roads, Illinois State Police Sgt. Jacqueline Cepeda said that all exit ramps on I-90/94 from 18th Street to Division Street are closed until further notice. Also closed is I-290 eastbound to Ida B. Wells Drive.
Lake Shore Drive is closed between Fullerton Avenue and I-55 (the Stevenson Expressway), according to the Chicago Department of Transportation. The transportation department said in an email that all downtown bridges have been raised except for bridges at Columbus Drive, LaSalle Street, Harrison Street, Lake Shore Drive and Ida B. Wells Drive.
Transportation department spokesman Michael Claffey could not say how long the closures would last. He said in an email that the Chicago Police Department, the Office of Emergency Communications and the Department of Transportation “will continue to enforce closures for the time being while assessing when to reopen Chicago’s full network of streets.”
Dr. Mark Primiano, a veterinarian who works at the Anti-Cruelty Society on Grand Avenue in the River North area, said he usually goes from his home in Uptown along Wilson to Lake Shore Drive to get to work, but found the entrance closed.
“I tried talking to a cop who was there, who said I can’t come through,” Primiano said. Primiano said when he asked how he could get to work, the officer responded, “Not my problem, buddy.”
So Primiano instead took Marine Drive to Clark Street to Division Street. He kept finding barricaded streets, but was eventually able to get to Halsted Street, and go to work from there. Primiano said no police officers were checking IDs, though he had a letter identifying himself as an essential worker and could have presented it, if asked.
“Honestly, the whole thing is for show. It’s not any safer,” said Primiano. “It was just a hassle. It’s not going to stop anyone from getting down here if they want to get down here.”
