Wacker Drive Construction to Continue

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 27, 2010 2:42PM

Looks like the on-again, off-again Wacker Drive construction project will be on-again, weather permitting.

Tribune transportation columnist John Hilkevitch reports that the Chicago Department of Transportation will resume its facelift of upper and lower Wacker Drive Jan. 3. Here's how that will affect downtown commuters:

• The next phase of construction will range from Randolph to Monroe Streets, moving north to south.
• Traffic on Wacker Drive will be detoured onto Franklin Street will be converted to a two-way street for the duration of 2011.
• the work next week will close Wacker from Lake to Madison, including the Wacker/Randolph and Wacker/Washington intersections.

By the time the $300 million project is finished, the double merge from the Franklin Street ramp and Lower Wacker will be replaced by a longer, single merge from Lower Wacker that will give drivers a longer time to find an opening in traffic.