Adams Street Bridge Reconstruction Project Begins Monday Night
(CBS) -- A major bridge reconstruction projects gets underway downtown Monday night.
The Chicago Dept. of Transportation will close the 90-year-old Adams Street bridge for reconstruction, along with a 300-foot viaduct that will be replaced over the north sheds of Chicago Union Station.
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.
The bridge was last repaired in 1996. The viaduct is as old as the bridge.
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Burke said that because of the pedestrian traffic, at least one sidewalk will remain open for most the project, which is expected to take 13 months to complete.
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 may 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.
In addition to a rebuilt bridge and viaduct just west of the river, Burke said C-DOT plans improvements to the intersection of Adams and Canal Streets, new street lighting and traffic signals and improved roadway drainage.
Burke said that CDOT has rebuilt or substantially repaired most of the city's other bascule bridges over the past ten years. This work allows for restoration of their function and extension of their usable life.
