{"id":269630,"date":"2025-10-01T16:47:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T16:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/269630\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T16:47:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T16:47:14","slug":"lake-street-bridge-to-close-for-two-year-reconstruction-starting-monday-heres-what-chicagoans-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/269630\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake Street Bridge to close for two-year reconstruction starting Monday\u2014here\u2019s what Chicagoans need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It wouldn\u2019t be a tired ol\u2019 adage if it wasn\u2019t true\u2014Chicago has two seasons: winter and construction. Much to the (rightful) dismay of commuters, we are crash-landing into the latter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Starting Monday, October 6, the Lake Street Bascule Bridge over the South Branch of the Chicago River\u2014better known as the Lake Street Bridge\u2014will close for a years-long rehabilitation project, adding to the growing list of city bridges shut down for major reconstruction. The renovations, which were <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/2023\/8\/14\/23831795\/lake-street-bridge-renovation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">originally planned for 2024<\/a>, will entail <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicago.gov\/content\/dam\/city\/depts\/cdot\/bridge\/LakeStreetBridge_VirtualPublicMeeting_Slides%20(09.24.25).pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">several improvements<\/a> on the downtown bridge, including a replacement bridge deck and CTA tracks, along with a rehabilitation of crucial mechanical and electrical systems. Construction on the 109-year-old bridge will stretch into January 2028, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicago.gov\/city\/en\/depts\/cdot\/supp_info\/lake-street-bascule-bridge-rehabilitation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Chicago Department of Transportation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Chicagoans should brace themselves for some transit-related headaches: The Lake Street Bridge will be fully closed to both vehicles and pedestrians starting Monday, October 6. Eastbound vehicles will\u00a0be pushed into the following detour route: Desplaines Street to Washington Street to Franklin Street to Lake Street. Westbound vehicles will be detoured to the following: Wacker Drive to Madison Street to Jefferson Street to Lake Street. Pedestrians will be shuffled to Canal Street, then Wacker Drive and finally Randolph Street.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"8b8a30a9-c6d2-27d6-ffa5-f7a683c74039\" class=\"photo lazy inline\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"lazy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image.webp.webp\" alt=\"A diagram of Lake Street Bascule Bridge closure detour routes.\" data-caption=\"\" data-credit=\"Diagram: Chicago Department of Transportation\" data-width-class=\"\" data-image-id=\"106325876\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\nDiagram: Chicago Department of Transportation&#13;<\/p>\n<p>CTA commuters will go\u00a0(mostly) unscathed: Green and Pink Line traffic will\u00a0run continuously throughout\u00a0the bridge closure with the exception of two shutdowns slated for fall 2026 and spring 2027.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the only major reconstruction project rocking downtown Chicago: The\u00a0State Street Bridge\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/transportation\/2025\/04\/11\/state-street-bridge-repair\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">abruptly closed for emergency repairs<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year, with reopening expected\u00a0in November.\u00a0Rubbing salt in the wound, repairs on the Chicago Avenue Bridge <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7chicago.com\/post\/chicago-road-closures-avenue-bridge-closing-monday-reconstruction-project\/17903768\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">began just a few days ago<\/a> and is projected to last until December 2026. The 17-month-long infrastructure project has shut down Chicago Avenue between Larrabee Street and Peoria Street, with more closures to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It wouldn\u2019t be a tired ol\u2019 adage if it wasn\u2019t true\u2014Chicago has two seasons: winter and construction. Much&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":269631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[11234,960,5386,1818,11235,1164],"class_list":{"0":"post-269630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-categories-travel","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-news-transport-travel","13":"tag-travel"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}