A key stretch of CTA track work, which has become an eyesore for South Loop residents is getting fixed up in 2014, according to the CTA and Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd).

Stretching along 18th from State to Clark, the 18th Street connector, as the span of track is known, is a key connector between the Red and Orange lines and the Loop.

But paint on the massive beams supporting that section of track has peeled over time and the supports have become rusty. It has become a consistent complaint among area residents.

As part of the same federal funding that’s paying for the Red Line renewal project — which will shut down the south end of the line for four months in 2013 — the CTA is fixing up the connector. They’ll be waterproofing the tracks at the top to prevent water leakage, and then repainting the support beams when it’s finished.

Dowell said she’s glad the CTA is finally getting around to the project.

“They’ve been more concerned with the track work and the slow zones, but that connector is just really unsightly there,” she said. “It’s something that a lot of my residents in that area around Dearborn Park, 18th Street, Clark Street have been asking for for a couple of years. And we’re finally going to get around to doing it.”