The view north from Wacker Drive, panning from west to east. Many Chicago River bridges are distinctive, but I happened to cross this one several times, so it gets its own page.


Bridge plaque, southwest tower.


Continuing north, one thing I like about this bridge (a draw span, as they all are) is how there are metal plates at either end of the truss, giving the appearance of a solid object but clearly with support beams inside.


Back south to the Loop (downtown). The Wacker Dr. signals control the south side, but the north side is controlled by the old draw span signals with "STOP" written on the lenses, shining red when the bridge is raised.


So, there's a lower level to Chicago. The entire northern downtown street grid is replicated below itself, all on structure, with upper and lower entrances to most buildings, just because Chicago took a unique approach to solving traffic problems between cars, trains, and the river. The streets are all called "Lower" versions of themselves. The catch is that there are limited entry and exit points - the lower level is sort of the insider's way around. For example, Lower Wacker Drive is a fast way to get to I-290 and out of downtown. This is the entrance to Lower LaSalle St., looking south from the north side of the Chicago River. There is no lower level of the LaSalle Street Bridge; this just goes into a garage.


The emergence of the lower level from the garage is well decorated, here seen NB.

Onto Wacker Drive
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