Wacker Drive Totally Explained

Everything about Wacker Drive totally explained

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. The vast majority of it's 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, Sub-Lower Wacker Drive, Wacker Drive, Service Level, Lowest Wackest or Bottom Wacker. Near the eastern end of the road, other two and three level streets connect to Wacker Drive.

History

In 1909, architects Daniel Burnham and Edward 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). 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.
   In 2001-2002, Wacker Drive was redesigned and reconstructed. The original upper deck was crumbling, and the entire roadway didn't 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. 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.
   Wacker is the only street to cross both State Street (the east-west center line) and Madison Street (the north-south center line).

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.
In the 1948 movie Call Northside 777, scenes are set in a tower on Wacker Drive looking toward the Merchandise Mart.

Intersections

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 - lowerFurther Information

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