The fourth stage of bridge improvements related to construction on the Bloomingdale Trail, the centerpiece of The 606, will occur on Saturday, April 19th.

The bridge that previously spanned Ashland Avenue will be relocated to its new home on Western Avenue, including an early morning procession via North Avenue.

“The kind of adaptive reuse seen in the Ashland/Western bridge replacement is one the hallmarks of the project, which is focused on being both environmentally-friendly and cost-efficient,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “The ‘new’ bridge at Western will replace the one demolished earlier in the month, and will provide uninterrupted travel along the Bloomingdale Trail. This is another important milestone in the progress to complete this long-awaited project.”

The bridge will be moved on special equipment that can lift, rotate, and transport the entire structure. Early Saturday morning, crews will move the bridge south on Ashland to North, turn west on North and roll to Western, and then turn northbound on Western Avenue to Bloomingdale Avenue to complete the journey.

The bridge will then be rotated and lifted into place to span Western. To accommodate the width of the bridge, parked cars must be removed along the route. Beginning at 4 a.m. on Saturday, parking will be removed on the following streets:

• Ashland Avenue (1600W) between Cortland (1900N) and North (1600N).
• North Avenue between Ashland (1600W) and Western (2400W)
• Western between North (1600N) and Moffat (1832N)

Parking will be allowed after the bridge has passed any particular location, and will be restored no later than 10 a.m. Additionally, Western Avenue will be closed between St. Paul (1750N) and Moffat (1850N) from 6 a.m. on Saturday, April 19 until the bridge is secured and equipment is removed.

Crews will begin work at approximately 5 a.m. on Saturday, preparing the bridge and removing it from a work yard at Ashland near Courtland Avenue. As the bridge moves to its new location, CDOT and Chicago Police will institute a rolling closure, which limits access to the part of the street in use at the time.

As the bridge passes, the street behind it will reopen to all traffic. On Western, all vehicular traffic, including CTA’s Western Avenue Route #49 buses, will be detoured west to California Avenue via North and Armitage Avenues during the closure period.

Vehicles and bicycles affected by the rolling closure will be diverted to the nearest appropriate alternate route. The move will not impact sidewalks, though pedestrians may need to wait or find an alternate route to cross any of the affected streets if the bridge is nearby.

This work is the culmination of major bridge work on The 606, and follows the successful removal of the Ashland bridge March 28-30 and the March 7-9 demotion of the Bloomingdale Avenue bridge over Western. Crews also removed concrete on the bridge across Milwaukee Avenue March 14-16 in preparation for improvements there.

All three projects finished ahead of the projected work period. The 606 park and trail system is the signature project of Mayor Emanuel’s push to create 800 new parks, recreation areas and green spaces throughout Chicago over the next five years. For more information visit www.The606.org.

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