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At its monthly board meeting yesterday, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) awarded a $172.8 million contract to an Aldridge-Mass joint venture to upgrade the Blue Line’s signal system.

In early 2006, Aldridge-Mass will begin upgrading the system along a 20-mile section between the Forest Park terminal and Jefferson Park on the O’Hare branch. The contractor also will install a signal system to connect the Red and Blue line subways at a new transit station being built on North State Street, and replace traction power cables.

Aldridge-Mass will replace CTA’s automatic block system with a cab signal system to improve train movement and reduce travel times. Designed to improve communication between CTA’s control center and field personnel, the new system will provide train operators more detailed information and enforce maximum speeds.

At the meeting, CTA’s board also approved a $1.04 billion fiscal-year 2006 budget that includes a 25-cent fare increase and revised the authority’s five-year capital plan to include three heavy-rail extensions.