Multi-level streets in Chicago

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Even with bridges, two lanes are superimposed, here the Michigan Avenue bascule bridge
System of multilevel streets in the heart of Chicago

Multilevel streets in Chicago are two, and occasionally three, streets one above the other in downtown Chicago , some of which have existed for over 80 years. Official plans for the road system had existed since the early 1910s and were eventually implemented by Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennet . Recreational cyclists and farmers who wanted to bring their products to market were also supporters.

The longest and probably most famous street is Wacker Drive, named after the German-American philanthropist Charles Henry Wacker (1856–1929), a three and a half kilometer long multi-lane road that runs along the Chicago River . The Wacker Drive, which was built in 1926 with an initial one kilometer cost of 8 million US dollars , is considered to be the basic building block of the multi-level system. 1948–1954 a one and a half kilometer long extension was built to the south, in 1963 and then again in 1975 an extension to the west to Lake Michigan .

Individual evidence

  1. Wacker Drive, c.1930. on: encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org
  2. Streets and Highways. on: encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org

Web links

Commons : Multilevel streets in Chicago  - album with pictures, videos and audio files