Chicago's race to repair iconic downtown river bridges leading to last-minute closures, traffic headaches
Broken bridges are breaking trust for some elected leaders and commuters in Chicago.
For months, the ABC7 I-Team has been examining how one of Chicago's most iconic features - century-old bridges crossing the Chicago River - are now resulting in a flow of problems; from needed repairs piling up, to a lack of coordination and scheduling when bridges will be closed.
And according to federal data and city inspection reports, there are more needed repairs to come for some of the most unique and intricately engineered bridges in the world.
"There's nothing like them like in most parts of the country," said Arsalan Khan, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT)'s Chief Bridge Engineer.
Bridges are a fundamental resource Chicagoans use every day. And that's why it came as a surprise this past April when the city announced the State Street bridge in the Loop was closing for "emergency repairs."
The city now says those repairs are not expected to be completed until January 2026.
Khan, who was just named the city's Chief Bridge Engineer this year, told the I-Team the city closed the bridge after discovering a flaw that needed immediate attention.
"We probably shouldn't have called it 'emergency,' but there was definitely work that needed to be done on this bridge," Khan said. "We inspect these things every day, especially this bridge every two years, all the elements of it. And right before we were about to start construction, we found some elements in there that needed to have a lane closed immediately."
That concerning element was captured in a video recorded by city inspectors and obtained by the I-Team: When buses drove over the State Street bridge, a larger than normal gap was formed between both bridge sections, creating an opening and potential risk.
The I-Team shared bridge inspection reports of the State Street bridge, and five other river bridges in the Loop with two civil engineers, who both agreed there were no imminent threats, but the closure of State Street came at a vital time.
"The bridge, generally speaking, was not in a good condition," said Gongkang Fu with the Illinois Institute of Technology. "It did need that emergency repair as announced, and I believe that was a right move for them to take."
Farhad Ansari with the University of Illinois Chicago told the I-Team the State Street bridge was "probably somewhere between bad and perhaps on the verge of being really bad."
The State Street bridge is not the only river bridge currently closed for repairs.
The Lake Street bridge , which first opened in 1916, is also closed, and officials say it's slated to reopen in January 2028.
Moving out of the Loop, the Chicago-Halsted bridge , which was originally built in 1914 and was replaced with an interim temporary structure in 2018, is also currently closed, and slated to reopen at the end of next year.
And the Cortland Street bridge , originally built in 1902, is closed for repairs and slated to reopen in mid-2027.
CDOT officials told the I-Team the total cost for these four projects is estimated to be nearly $284 million.
Commuters are feeling the impact of those closures.
"Some of these bridges are not going to be done until 2028. 2028!" Kiva McGhee said in a video posted to TikTok .
"It's a nightmare," Nicole Pamphilis said in a video online . "It's taking me 20 minutes to drive .3 miles!"
Khan told the I-Team in September his department is trying to avoid traffic nightmares.
"All of these need some TLC," Khan said. "And we just can't close everything all at once."
But at a Chicago city budget committee hearing last month , 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly had a different take.
"In whose wisdom did we determine that it was appropriate to close so many east-west bridges, all at the same time?" Reilly asked CDOT's Acting Commissioner Craig Turner.
"I would argue that you failed to plan or properly coordinate on your bridge closure projects," Reilly said. "I think we can all agree that you've created a bit of chaos."
"These bridges are old bridges," Turner responded, in part. "These bridges are carrying more [ weight ] than what they were designed to carry... There's no easy way to do, to repair a bridge."
The city may have even more repair projects coming.
Inspection reports and federal data from the National Bridge Inventory reviewed by the I-Team show ten more Chicago river bridges need "high priority" repairs or "replacement" across the city.
Those bridges include:
1. Division St: (Needing Replacement)
2. Franklin/Orleans St: (Needing Replacement)
3. Grand Ave: (Needing corrective Action)
4. Kinzie St: (Needing corrective Action)
5. Lake Shore Dr: (Needing corrective Action)
6. N LaSalle St: (Needing corrective Action)
7. Michigan Ave: (Needing corrective Action)
8. Roosevelt Rd: (Needing corrective Action)
9. Wilson Ave: (Needing corrective Action)
10. Randolph St: (Needing corrective Action)
Our review found most of these bridges, and the bridges already closed, have been listed in "poor condition" by the federal National Bridge Inventory since 2016, nearly ten years.
After filing public records requests with the city, a spokesperson for CDOT told the I-Team there is no master list or schedule for upcoming repair projects.
"Timing is subject to a number of variables, including the outcome of inspections, procurement processes, coordination with other projects and agencies, funding availability, and logistical considerations," a CDOT spokesperson said by email.
No bridges inspected by the city have had "imminent danger" flaws, according to city inspectors, and the bridges are inspected every one to two years, depending on their condition.
While the city is in a budget deficit, a spokesperson for CDOT said bridge repair projects are funded with a mix of local, state, and federal money.
For the four bridge projects already underway, the funding is coming from local and state dollars, CDOT says.
Khan said with a robust inspection schedule, the city will not hesitate to close a bridge if necessary.
"If something gets critical, we will close it," Khan told the I-Team. "And if something needs work... our first instinct is to try to figure out how can we still maintain traffic on it, either by load posting or by staging traffic."
"If there was imminent danger, we would close the bridge," Khan said.
