WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

Think the five-month Red Line renovation is a major pain? The story of an 'L' renovation that took five years.

Monday is the first weekday of the $425 million project to rebuild the line on the city's South Side and that means no trains are running along the 10.2-mile stretch between Cermak-Chinatown and 95th Street.

 The Morning Shift gets down to brass tacks on TIFs that may be used for improvements a Navy Pier and McCormick Place. And as the south branch of the Red Line shuts down for the summer, CTA is on hand to answer questions. 

The five-month long shutdown of the CTA Red Line South kicks off Sunday, causing all local transit organizations and even the White Sox to pitch in. 

Chicago officials say the project’s first phase would transform 5.3 miles of the congested artery for about $50 million.

Members of the Illinois House Mass Transit Committee called a public hearing Monday to hear public concerns about additional fees associated with the card, which will be introduced this summer.

Watch a blast from Chicago's cinematic past: The Million Dollar Rip Off, a 1976 made-for-television movie about an ex-con who plans a heist $1.5 million from the Chicago Transit Authority.