Van Buren Street Tunnel

The Van Buren Street tunnel was Chicago's third tunnel under the Chicago River. The two previous tunnels, under LaSalle and Washington Streets, were built and owned by the City of Chicago, but the Van Buren Street tunnel was a private venture. Opened in 1894, it was in intermittent use until 1952.

History

In the 1880s the West Chicago Street Railroad was building four cable car lines radiating west from the downtown business district. The Chicago River shipping traffic needed movable bridges, which caused delays and could not have moving cables. The two northwest lines were routed through the Washington Street tunnel, but the two southwest lines also needed to cross the river. An 1888 ordinance allowed the W.C.S.R. to build and own a river crossing for cable or electric streetcars.^[1]

Building the Tunnel

Construction began in February 1890 on a 1,514 ft (461.47 m) long tunnel, from Franklin Street west to Clinton Street, 150 ft (45.72 m) north of Van Buren Street. The east approach was a stone walled 30 ft (9.14 m) wide ramp which descended at 12% for 150 ft (45.72 m), entering the tunnel under an alley. This steep incline caused problems for operations throughout the life of the tunnel. The tunnel was a brick and masonry arch on concrete foundations. The tunnel opened on March 24, 1894.^[1][2][3][4]

Lowering the tunnel

The reversing of the Chicago River in 1900 lowered the water level and exposed the roof of the tunnel in the riverbed. In 1904 the Federal government declared it a hazard to navigation, causing a legal battle over who was responsible for the tunnel, the city or the railroad. A 1906 US Supreme Court ruling required the railroad to lower or remove the tunnel at their own expense. The tunnel was closed on July 22, 1906.^[2][3][5]

A deeper replacement was built thru the original tunnel. The floor was removed, a lower concrete floor was poured, and a flat concrete roof was placed on vertical steel I beams. Then the old brick and masonry arch was removed with a dipper dredge in the river. The new tunnel opened to electric streetcar service in 1910. In 1915 it was closed again for construction of the approaches to the new Union Station, it was reopened in 1916.^[3]

After lowering

When power was switched from cable to electricity in 1906 streetcars could be routed over the Monroe St. bridge. The tunnel was closed to regular service in 1924, but was maintained for emergency use and training. In 1952 the Chicago Transit Authority ended all streetcar service, and closed the tunnel. In 2015 a high rise building, 334 S. Franklin, occupies the site of the approach, a parking entrance in the building is close to the original tunnel entrance. The west approach site is now a parking deck.^[3][6][7]

Plans for subways

Plans were made to incorporate the tunnel into a high-level subway to run under Jackson Street between Clinton Street and Grant Park, along with parallel route under Washington Street, utilizing that street's similar tunnel under the river^[8][9] Both would be tied into another subway tunnel to be dug under Clinton Street.^[10] The only construction accomplished in advance of these plans were the pair of portals in the Eisenhower Expressway median, 200 feet east of Halsted Street, constructed in 1952 simultaneously with the pair of portals for the Blue Line,^[11] and the double-wide station built at Peoria Street in 1964 to accommodate the anicipated platform north of the UIC-Halsted platform for the Blue Line.^[12] In 1951-1952, the plans were modified to merge the Clinton and Jackson routes and convert the Washington Street subway as a busway rather than as a train tunnel.^[13] The plan was cancelled in April 1962, although the design and placement of the Peoria Street stationhouse remained unchanged.^[14]

See also

LaSalle Street Tunnel
Washington Street Tunnel

References