![]() ![]() New path, landscaping, lighting, railing and seating are included in this work. ![]() $12 million in capital improvements were made to this portion of the path in 2019. The Riverwalk Esplanade between Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue was originally dedicated as park to the City in 1972 from the Illinois Central Railroad together with a plat of subdivision to create Wacker Drive as part of the Rails to Trails program. Under Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s leadership, the role of the river has been evolving with the Chicago Riverwalk project-an initiative to reclaim the Chicago River for the ecological, recreational and economic benefit of the city.Īlthough the idea of a Riverwalk was included in Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago, the first installment didn’t happen until the 1970’s. Recent improvements in river water quality and the increased intensity of public recreational use signal growing life along the river, demanding new connections to the water's edge. But today that vision is becoming a reality. The goal of embracing the river as a recreational amenity seemed impossible years ago given the river's high levels of pollution. By the City’s incorporation in 1837, the river had already been established as a desirable location for industrial development.įollowing the famed reversal of the river, in which the city reversed the flow of the Main Branch and South Branch to improve sanitation, architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham introduced a new civic vision of riverside promenades with the addition of the Wacker Drive viaduct. As early as the 1600’s the river and the lake were major trade routes. Chicago’s phenomenal growth into a major urban center is due, in large part, to its strategic location on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Once a meandering marshy stream, the river first became an engineered channel to support the industrial transformation of the city. The Main Branch of the Chicago River has a long and storied history that in many ways mirrors the development of Chicago itself.
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