Half of the Lake Street Bridge is gone, and I can’t get over it. And if you’ve driven anywhere near The Loop lately, you can’t either. Same for a bunch of other bridges around the city. But until Monday, CTA elevated train service over the Lake Street Bridge is unavailable too, as the Chicago Department of Transportation prepares to move a new west span into place.
A revised timeline and further details have been revealed for the next phase of the massive ORDNext program across O’Hare International Airport. The shift in timeline comes as the airport continues to see record levels of traffic and delays due to gate availability and weather disruptions. The changes in phasing will allow for more gates to open earlier.
Initial details have been shared for a potential new high-speed rail connection between downtown Chicago and O’Hare International Airport. Dubbed the ‘O’Hare Flyer,’ the train aims to take passengers between the two in just 15 minutes, becoming the newest attempt to create a faster direct connection to one of the world’s busiest airports.
The traffic snarl you encountered over the weekend is evidence that the closures of Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street in the River West neighborhood continue. Both streets were closed and the intersection torn apart months ago for reconstruction of the Halsted Street viaduct, and now the bridge over the Chicago River has been removed ahead of its replacement.
Additional renderings have been revealed as part of a new fly-through video of the upcoming Concourse D at O’Hare International Airport. The new concourse marks the first major expansion at the airport since the Terminal 5 expansion was completed in 2023. It is also the first phase of the overall ORDNext project and is expected to be completed in 2028.
