Downtown Chicago road construction to continue, change direction

Wacker Drive will be under construction until 2012. Photo by Andrew Muller | Flicker.com

Road construction in downtown Chicago may just seem like the norm by now, but there is an end in sight. And that date is December 2012.

According to Chicagobreakingnews.com the $300 million Wacker Drive reconstruction project is slated to end in two years.

Until then, there is still work to be done – and it kicks back into gear next week. The Chicago Department of Transportation is working to rebuild a 55-year-old portion of Upper and Lower Wacker Drive spanning from Randolph to Monroe.

Here’s what’s yet to be expected in the short-term:

Wacker will close between Lake and Madison

Franklin will become a tw0-way street, accommodating north and southbound Wacker detours.

In the long-run, according to Chicagobreakingnews.com:

“You’ll no longer come out of the darkness along the winding S-curve on Lower Wacker and find out there is another vehicle directly on your right,” said John Yonan, Chicago‘s deputy transportation commissioner. “Now you will be the lone car merging onto Congress.”

Drivers also likely will appreciate the new left-turn lane for northbound Upper Wacker traffic at Randolph. A new ramp from Upper to Lower Wacker at Monroe will also be added, eliminating the nerve-wracking approach that existed under the original 1950s Wacker design and replacing it with space for drivers to merge more gently into traffic.

The downtown Chicago area accommodates more than 60,000 vehicles, and that doesn’t even account for walkers, bicyclists and other commuters. Those who take the CTA buses will want to keep a close eye on routes for changes in the future. Visit http://www.transitchicago.com/wacker regularly.

What are some of the best detours you’ve come up with so far? Does the construction impact how and when you get around the downtown area? Tell us about it in our comments section.

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Tags: Apartments Downtown Chicago, Chicago apartments, Chicago road construction, downtown Chicago, Left Bank at K Station, Left Bank at Kinzie Station, Wacker Drive

This entry was posted on December 27, 2010 at 9:08 am and is filed under Downtown Chicago, Travel & Places. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.