Blue Line to stop running for 2 upcoming weekends
The Lynx Blue Line will not operate for two weekends to allow construction workers to have unfettered access to the rail line.
Light-rail trains will not operate on April 30 and May 1, and again on May 7 and 8. The Charlotte Area Transit System will have buses running along the line during the closures.
CATS is building a $1.1 billion extension to the light-rail line that is scheduled to open in the summer of 2017. Contractors need access to the existing tracks to connect the two projects.
The transit system is also lengthening the platforms at some Blue Line stations so they are long enough to handle three-car trains. The platforms today are only long enough to accommodate two-car trains.
This will be the first time the entire train line has been shut down since it opened in 2007. CATS said that instead of having numerous partial closures of the rail line, it would shut down the entire line for two weekends and be finished.
Steve Harrison: 704-358-5160, @Sharrison_Obs
This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Blue Line to stop running for 2 upcoming weekends."