Rebuilding our vital infrastructure: 18th Street Bridge edition
Metropolitan Planning Council
MPC staff and local business owners Sarah Jolie of Hensley Co. and Mike Smith of Mission Press celebrate the reopening of the 18th Street Bridge.
In 1890, the city of Chicago already had more than 1 million inhabitants. Think about that fact: 125 years ago, Chicago already had enough residents to place it among today’s 10 largest U.S. cities.
Chicago’s long history of being a big city means that much of the infrastructure we rely upon now was built far in the past, and inevitably much of it is falling apart. It’s a problem hardly confined to the city; in fact, all across Illinois, bridges, roads and transit lines built 30, 40, 50 or more years ago are now in need of repair.
Fortunately, our governments are already investing in upgrading our infrastructure. Last month, the Chicago Dept. of Transportation unveiled its reconstructed 18th Street Bridge, a $5.4 million project that installed new roadway decks, repaired trussing and upgraded electrical systems.
The bridge was in desperate need of repair. It was originally completed in 1967 and is one of the city’s few single-leaf bascule bridges. Like other bridges over the Chicago River, it opens to allow boats to pass, but it is one of few that tilts open from only one end, instead of both.
The 18th Street Bridge reconstruction was funded with revenues from the adjacent tax-increment financing district and is the latest example of the $650 million in bridge projects the City of Chicago has commenced or completed since 2011.
This bridge has always provided a vital link, serving about 8,500 vehicles a day and filling a mile-long gap between river crossings at Roosevelt Road and Canal Street, connecting the South Loop to the rest of the region. The bridge will also provide essential relief to adjacent roadways that are currently under construction, including Roosevelt Road and the Jane Byrne Interchange.
Sarah Jolie of the Hensley Co., a small mailing service business in the area, told me, “This bridge is the main way our employees get here... our folks walk quite a bit, and the fact that this bridge was out meant that our folks were walking an extra mile and a half.”
Putting this bridge back into service will reduce congestion and ensure that people have a reliable commuting option that can provide decades of good service.
The reconstruction of the 18th Street Bridge is just one example of investing in our aging—but still essential—infrastructure assets. But we need additional funds to ensure that we can bring our transportation system to a state of good repair. The Accelerate Illinois initiative, which is bringing together people and organizations as diverse as the Metropolitan Planning Council, AARP, Illinois PIRG and many others, is working to encourage our legislators down in Springfield to pass a comprehensive, long-term and reliable transportation funding bill that will guarantee that more projects like the 18th Street Bridge can be completed.