Wacker Drive
Length:	2.2 mi[1] (3.5 km)
Formed:	1926
Direction:	North-South and East-West
From:	Upper Wacker: Franklin Street / Harrison Street intersection (360 west at 424 south) Lower Wacker: Congress Parkway near Wells Street (220 west at 400 south)
To:	U.S. Route 41 (Lake Shore Drive) (340 north at 400 east)
Major cities:	Chicago

Wacker Drive is a major street in Chicago, Illinois, United States, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River. The street is a multilevel street that runs from 340 north at 400 east to 200 north at 340 west and along 360 west from 188 north to 424 south in the Chicago street address system in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States.^[2] The vast majority of it is double-decked; the upper level intended for local traffic, and the lower level for through-traffic and trucks servicing buildings on the road (and originally a dock). It is sometimes cited as a precursor to the modern freeway, though when built the idea was that pleasure vehicles would use the upper level. It is one of a few streets in the city that has addresses on all four cardinal directions.

The upper level is normally known as Upper Wacker Drive and the lower level is Lower Wacker Drive. A short part has a third level, sometimes called Lower Lower Wacker Drive or Lowest Wacker Drive.^{[citation needed]} Near the eastern end of the road, other two and three level streets connect to Wacker Drive.

[edit] History

Navy Pier's fireworks over Lake Michigan beyond the Chicago River and the Michigan Avenue and Link Bridges with Wacker Drive on right

Wacker Drive to the left of the Chicago River

360 North Michigan, Mather Tower and 35 East Wacker stand on East Wacker Drive just west of Michigan Avenue and the Michigan Avenue Bridge.

All three levels of Wacker Drive, east of Columbus Drive, including a ramp between the upper and lower (middle) levels

In 1909, architects Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett drew up a plan for the Commercial Club of Chicago to unify the city's urban design and increase its physical beautification. The improvement of traffic flow in Chicago was a major part of the plan. Among its many recommendations was a double-decked roadway along the river, intended to relieve the congestion at River Street and Rush Street, where 50% of the city's north-south traffic crossed the Chicago River. Charles H. Wacker, chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission, pushed the idea.

The original double-decker road, replacing South Water and River Streets, was completed in 1926 at a cost of $8 million and named after Charles Wacker. The 1926 section stretched from Lake Street to Michigan Avenue, the latter of which was also rebuilt into a two-level road.

An extension south to Congress Parkway and Harrison Street was built between 1948 and 1954, replacing Market Street (after the Market Stub of the elevated Lake Street Line was removed).^[3] Extensions east were built in 1963 and 1975, with the latter taking it to Lake Shore Drive, and a new lower level starting at Stetson Avenue. At the time, Lake Shore Drive had an S-curve at the river, running where Wacker now does between Field Boulevard and current Lake Shore Drive. This S-curve was on a viaduct over the Illinois Central Railroad's rail yard, and was at the level of Upper Wacker; the middle and lower levels dead-ended at that point. The current alignment of Lake Shore Drive was finished in 1986, and in 1987 Middle Wacker was extended to meet the new alignment. The ramps to bring upper traffic down had already been built; upper has been dead-ended where it used to end at Lake Shore Drive.

Logo for the 2001-2002 project

In 2001-2002, Wacker Drive was redesigned and reconstructed. The original upper deck was crumbling, and the entire roadway did not meet modern standards for road widths and clearances. Using "a specially developed flat-slab, longitudinally post-tensioned, reinforced, high-performance concrete cast-in-place system," the new road deck was expected to have a lifespan of 75-100 years.^[4] Walkways along the river were meant to make the drive more pedestrian-friendly, while restoration of historic limestone elements and reproduction lighting evoked the drive's original 1926 appearance. The 20-month, $200-million project was completed on time and within budget.^[5]

Wacker is the only street to cross both State Street (the east-west center line) and Madison Street (the north-south center line).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Popular culture

• Wacker Drive had a "cameo" credit in the 1980 film, The Blues Brothers. The climactic high-speed chase scene occurs along various downtown streets (filmed on Sundays with the downtown cordoned off). When the brothers take the Bluesmobile down to the express level, Elwood mentions the street by name: "Well, this is definitely Lower Wacker Drive. If my estimations are correct, we should be very close to the Honorable Richard J. Daley Plaza." Jake: "That's where they've got that Picasso." Elwood: "Yep."
• Wacker Drive was also featured in the Batmobile chase scene in the 2005 movie Batman Begins, and in the 2008 movie Dark Knight
• In the 2008 movie Wanted, Angelina Jolie is chased briefly through Lower Wacker Drive in her Viper.
• In the 1948 movie Call Northside 777, scenes are set in a tower on Wacker Drive looking toward the Merchandise Mart.

[edit] Intersections

Two aerial views in 1926

A side view, as seen from the Chicago River

Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago

The following streets intersect Wacker Drive, from south to north and west to east. Most upper-level streets that end at Wacker Drive, with only right turns allowed, are not included.

• Harrison Street at Franklin Street (one-way northbound) - beginning of Wacker Drive, before it splits into two levels; traffic from Harrison Street to the upper level must use Franklin Street to Congress Parkway
• Congress Parkway - ramps connect to both levels and from the lower level; a one-way westbound ramp connects Franklin Street to Upper Wacker
• Van Buren Street (one-way westbound) - upper
• Jackson Boulevard (one-way eastbound) - upper
• Adams Street (one-way westbound) - upper
• Monroe Street (one-way eastbound) - upper
• Madison Street (one-way westbound) - upper
• Washington Street (one-way eastbound) - upper
• Randolph Street (one-way westbound) - upper
• Lake Street (one-way eastbound to east) - upper
• Franklin Street (one-way northbound) - upper
• Post Place (only goes south) - lower
• Wells Street (one-way southbound) - upper
• LaSalle Street - upper
• Clark Street (one-way southbound) - upper
• Garvey Court (only goes south) - lower
• Dearborn Street (one-way northbound) - upper
• State Street - upper
• Wacker Place (one-way eastbound) - splits from eastbound lower and upper levels
• Wabash Avenue - upper
• Michigan Avenue - double-decker
• Beaubien Court - (only goes south) - lower
• Stetson Avenue (only goes south) - triple-decker (service level begins here)
• Columbus Drive - triple-decker to the south, lower to the north
• Field Boulevard (not built yet) - upper and service (which end here)
• Lake Shore Drive - lower

[edit] See also

• Multilevel streets in Chicago
• Philo Carpenter

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official City of Chicago Loop Community Map
• Wacker Drive Reconstruction Website (Internet Archive)

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Coordinates: 41°53′13″N 87°37′39″W / 41.88688°N 87.62738°W / 41.88688; -87.62738