Congress
Street Expressway a major
street in Chicago, Illinois, that runs east as
I-90 from the Circle Interchange (where
Interstates 90, 94, and 290 come together) to
Wells Street, and then as a surface street all
the way to Columbus Drive in Grant Park
(left) The Congress Street Expressway
heading west, approaching the Chicago River
drawbridge and Post Office (through which it
passes via a tunnel).
(right) The Circle Interchange.

A broad boulevard on the line of Congress
Street that would cut through the long blocks
between Van Buren and Harrison Streets,
connecting a cultural center of new buildings in
Grant Park to a new civic center centered on
Congress and Halsted Street, then extending
westward to parks and suburban areas beyond the
city limits was first proposed in 1909. The
proposal was bandied about, but no serious
planning was done at that time.
In 1940, the City Council of Chicago
established the Westside Route, or Congress
Expressway, as their first priority in a
comprehensive superhighway system. Work was
expected to begin quickly, but skyrocketing
costs, limited funding, extensive utility
relocation, poor subsurface conditions, and the
need for agreements with three railroads,
municipalities and a cemetery all added time and
cost to the project schedule. The Expressway had
to be carried above Clinton and Canal and
Streets, pass under the Chicago Post Office at a
level similar to surrounding streets, and then
cross the South Branch of the Chicago River on
twin drawbridges. East of the river, ramps
connecting to Franklin Street and two levels of
Wacker Drive had to be built and the platforms of
LaSalle Street Station had to be reconstructed to
accomodate an underpass. And, all of the planning
and construction work had to accomodate the CTA
Congress Line in the median and the temporary
relocation of the Douglas Park CTA line, both of
which had to be kept operational during the
project.
The surface level section of the Expressway,
from State Street to LaSalle Street opened to
traffic in 1952, and the entire length was opened
to traffic in 1960. It was renamed the Dwight D.
Eisenhower Expressway in 1964.
The Congress Expressway
as it looked in 1957.

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