Wacker Drive (Chicago)
 |
|
| Former name(s) | Market Street |
|---|---|
| Length | 2.2 mi (3.5 km) |
| South end |
Upper Wacker: Franklin Street / Harrison Street intersection (360 west at 424 south) |
| East end |
 US 41 (Lake Shore Drive) (340 north at 400 east) |
| Construction | |
| Inauguration | 1926 |
Upper Wacker: Franklin Street / Harrison Street intersection (360 west at 424 south)
Wacker Drive is a major multilevel 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 in the Loop. 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. It is the only street in the city that is prefixed with all four cardinal directions, albeit on different parts of its route.
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.
In 1909, architects Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett drew up a plan for the Commercial Club of Chicago to unify the city's urban design and increase its physical beautification. The improvement of traffic flow in Chicago was a major part of the plan. Among its many recommendations was a double-decked roadway along the river, intended to relieve the congestion at River Street and Rush Street, where 50% of the city's north–south traffic crossed the Chicago River. Charles H. Wacker, chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission, pushed the idea.
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