Driving Downtown Streets - Wacker Drive - Chicago Illinois USA - Episode 20.
Starting Point: Wacker Drive & Jackson Boulevard - goo.gl/maps/jjZYRbYEPnF2 .
Wacker Drive is a major street in Chicago, Illinois, United States, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River. The street is a multilevel street. The vast majority of it is double-decked; the upper level intended for local traffic, and the lower level for through-traffic and trucks servicing buildings on the road (and originally a dock). It is sometimes cited as a precursor to the modern freeway, though when it was built the idea was that pleasure vehicles would use the upper level.
The upper level is normally known as Upper Wacker Drive and the lower level is Lower Wacker Drive. A short part has a third level, sometimes called Lower Lower Wacker Drive
History
The original double-decker road, replacing South Water and River Streets, was completed in 1926 at a cost of $8 million and named after Charles Wacker. The 1926 section stretched from Lake Street to Michigan Avenue, the latter of which was also rebuilt into a two-level road.
In 2001-2002, Wacker Drive was redesigned and reconstructed between Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street. The original upper deck was crumbling, and the entire roadway did not meet modern standards for road widths and clearances. Using a specially-developed "flat-slab, longitudinally post-tensioned, reinforced, high-performance concrete cast-in-place system", the new road deck was expected to have a lifespan of 75-100 years.[5] Walkways along the river were meant to make the drive more pedestrian-friendly, while restoration of historic limestone elements and reproduction lighting evoked the drive's original 1926 appearance. The 20-month, $200-million project was completed on time and within budget.[6]
In spring of 2010, work commenced on rebuilding the north-south section of Wacker, from Randolph Street to Congress Parkway, including the upper and lower levels. This is a continuation of the Revive Wacker Drive project started in 2001.
Wacker is the only street to intersect both State Street (the east-west center line) and Madison Street (the north-south center line), although Lake Shore Drive also crosses both dividing lines.
In April 2014, The American Council of Engineering Companies awarded the Wacker Drive and Congress Parkway Reconstruction project its Grand Conceptor Award. The project team was led by TranSystems and included roadway, bridge and tunnel improvement work. The project involved complex staging to keep 135,000 vehicles and 150,000 pedestrians moving through the construction zone each day.
In popular media
The 1980 film The Blues Brothers used Wacker Drive as a setting. Also Batman- The Dark Knight 2008.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wacker_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago
17 июл 2016
