A Loop Link station has opened at Madison and Wabash. View Full Caption DNAinfo/David Matthews

DOWNTOWN — The Loop Link bus stop at Madison Street and Wabash Avenue has been opened to the public, the eighth such boarding station to open Downtown since the program unveiled.

Though some finishing touches are needed, the new, elevated boarding station is now open to the public, the Chicago Transit Authority said in a news release Friday. The stations are a part of a $41 million project to increase bus speeds and rider comfort levels in the loop.

With that, lane closures on westbound Madison Street between Michigan and Wabash avenues have ended, CTA said.

The raised platforms feature large canopies for weather protection, bus tracker screens, increased seating for customers and a snow-melting mechanisms that help clear the platforms.

CTA said only the east end of the Madison Street platform will be accessible at this point. The west end is too close to ongoing construction on the new Washington and Wabash "L" station.

The entire platform will be opened by the summer, CTA said.

Work on the Loop Link program will continue into the summer, when officials hope to unveil new stations on Canal Street, CTA said.

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