Driving into the city along Lake Shore Drive from the South Side provides some of the most magnificent views of Chicago available. It also affords the opportunity to drive beneath what looks like an awesome big blue roller coaster.
41st Street Bridge under construction (Courtesy of Joe Zekas/YoChicago!)
This is not Riverview II. It’s actually the latest bridge connecting the city’s neighborhoods with the littoral pleasures of the Lake Michigan shoreline: The 41st Street Bridge, designed by AECOM and Cordogan, Clark & Associates. These photographs are from Joe Zekas at YoChicago!.
41st Street Bridge under construction (Courtesy of Joe Zekas/YoChicago!)
When complete, the $34 million structure will connect the city’s Oakland neighborhood with Oakwood Beach. It joins 31st Street, 35th Street, 39th Street, and 43rd Street bridges which have all been built, replaced, or will soon be built or replaced.
If it seems strange to have two pedestrian crossings of Lake Shore Drive just a couple of blocks from each other, it’s not. Because of the serpentine nature of the bridges and their lengths (a little under 1,500 feet long), the approaches each serve different parks of the lakefront. The goal is to give neighborhoods in this area of the South Side lakefront access every quarter mile or so.
Rendering of the 41st Street Bridge (Courtesy of CDOT)
The bulk of the 41st Street Bridge was manufactured in Missouri, and shut down several highways as it was trucked gently across Illinois to its lakefront destination.
Location: 41st Street at Lake Shore Drive, Oakwood
Editor founded the Chicago Architecture Blog in 2003, after a long career in journalism. He can be reached at chicagoarchitectureinfo@gmail.com.
