From 8:00pm Friday, March 20, 2009, until 4:00am Monday, March 23, 2009, Blue and Green light rail service will be shut down for necessary track maintenance. Light rail trains will be replaced with shuttle buses for the entire length of the lines, between Tower City and Green Road and Warrensville/Van Aken.

Shuttle buses will stop near all rapid stations, and will run on a schedule approximately equal to the light rail. Boarding and discharge at Tower City will be at the Trolley stop on Euclid Avenue near Ontario Street.

While delays will be kept to a minimum, the shuttle buses will be running on streets with signals and additional traffic, so travelers should allow extra time to reach their destinations.

The Waterfront Line will be running its regular weekend schedule between Tower City and South Harbor.

Regular light rail service will resume with the start of service on Monday, March 23, 2009.

As we head into spring, RTA will be performing more frequent and extensive rail maintenance, and additional shutdowns should be expected. Advance notice of such shutdowns will be posted at the affected stations and on the Riders' Alerts page at http://www.rideRTA.com/ .

RTA regrets any inconvenience to its customers during this time.

RTA releases updated work schedules for Blue and Green lines

CLEVELAND – The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) needs to complete $1.6 million of needed heavy maintenance work on its Blue and Green lines during weekend shutdowns. Care is being taken to schedule these shutdowns during weekends when they will impact the fewest number of customers.

RTA officials today released a schedule of planned shutdowns for the Blue and Green lines. Each shutdown lasts from 8 p.m. Friday until 4 a.m. Monday.

The Blue and Green line trains WILL operate on the weekends of March 27-29, April 3-5 and April 10-12, to serve customers attending the Rock Hall Induction Week, Indians Opening Day, Cavaliers games, the Cleveland International Film Festival at Tower City, and other events.

Shuttle buses will replace Blue and Green line trains on April 17-19, April 24-26, May 1-3, May 8-10 and May 15-17.

Shuttle buses — MCI commuter coaches -- will operate the entire length of the Blue and Green Rapid lines, between Tower City and Green Road and Warrensville-Van Aken. The buses will stop at all Rapid stations, and operate on a schedule approximately the same as light rail. Because shuttle buses operate on streets with signals and additional traffic, RTA officials urge riders to allow extra time to reach their destinations.

At Public Square, shuttle buses will use the existing trolley stop in front of Tower City, at Euclid Avenue and Ontario Street.

Waterfront Line trains will continue to provide service from Tower City to the South Harbor Station.

Other Blue and Green line weekend shutdowns will be announced later. RTA regrets any inconvenience to its customers during this time.