Adams Street Bridge Closed To Vehicles For 13-Month Reconstrution Project
CHICAGO (CBS) -- City officials have closed the Adams Street bridge over the Chicago River, forcing thousands of drivers to use a detour for more than a year.
The 90-year-old bridge closed at 8 p.m. Monday, and will stay closed for 13 months, as crews work on structural and electrical improvements for the drawbridge, upgrades to the intersection of Adams and Canal streets, and reconstruction of an existing viaduct over the Union Station tracks.
Officials said the improvements are a long time coming. The bridge was last repaired in 1996. The viaduct is as old as the bridge.
Chicago Department of Transportation chief engineer Dan Burke said that because of heavy pedestrian traffic – largely commuters going to and from Union Station – at least one sidewalk will remain open for most the project, which is expected to take 13 months to complete.
The Adams Street bridge and the viaduct are heavily used. CDOT Chief Engineer Dan Burke said 45,000 pedestrians use it each weekday, largely to get to or from Union Station, along with 12,000 vehicles. At ground level, 150 Metra and Amtrak trains use Union Station's north sheds each weekday.
Seven CTA bus lines will be re-routed south on Wacker Drive and west on Van Buren Street, including the 1/Bronzeville-Union Station, 7/Harrison, 28/Stony Island, 121/ Union-Streeterville Express, 126/Jackson, 151/Sheridan and 156/LaSalle.
Burke said other motorists are urged to use either Van Buren or Madison to head west from the Loop. Adams is one way westbound in the area.
Pedestrian access to the bridge will be cut off twice for 30 days, and occasionally on nights and weekends, Burke said. Most of the viaduct work will take place at night and on weekends, to minimize disruptions to train service. A Metra spokesperson said trains might be shifted to other tracks in the north shed, but that service should be close to normal.
Throughout the project there will be two new signed pick-up/drop-off areas for Union Station passengers on the curb of Jackson, between Canal and Clinton, and the curb of Adams, between Canal and Clinton.
Burke said CDOT has rebuilt or substantially repaired most of the city's other bascule drawbridges over the past 10 years. This work allows for restoration of their function and extension of their usable life.