Nasty Traffic Alert: Parts Of Lake Shore Drive To Close This Weekend

By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 22, 2016 4:05PM

The 35th Street pedestrian bridge could finally be renovated thanks to some federal funding. (Photo credit: Curtis Locke)

Lake Shore Drive is one of the most picturesque roads in America, but you’ll want to avoid the southern portion this weekend—or risk head injury due to frustrated forehead-to-steering-wheel slams. A stretch of South Lake Shore Drive will be closed so that crews can remove a steel support frame from the in-progress 35th St. Bridge that will cross LSD and link Lake Meadows to Burnham Park.

According to CDOT, northbound lanes of South Lake Shore Dr. will be closed between 39th St. and the I-55 interchange; and southbound lanes will be shut down from 31st to 39th.

The closures will extend from Friday at 8 p.m. through Sunday at noon.

Southbound drivers are advised to use Martin Luther King Dr. to detour, between 31st and 39th. And northbound drivers should use State St. between 39th and I-55.

The 35th St Bridge and the Navy Pier Flyover have both caused Lake Shore Drive closures, but any headaches should prove well worth it in the long run, as the city can always use more bike/ped connective tissue from the west across to the lakefront. Just remember that when you’re driving this weekend.