Why Did Chicago Build a Train in the Middle of a Highway?
Hidden Chicagoland
15,835 views
The Eisenhower Expressway hides one of Chicago's strangest secrets: a full rapid transit line running down the median of an eight-lane highway.
If you've ever wondered why there's a train running through the median of the Eisenhower Expressway, this video traces it back to Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago and a decades-long fight over Congress Street. You'll see how the CTA Blue Line, once called the Congress Line, ended up sharing a corridor with I-290, why a cemetery had to sign off on the route, and how a regional railroad, the Chicago Aurora and Elgin, didn't survive the construction. The video also covers the history of the CTA Blue Line and the Garfield Park elevated line it replaced, plus the disputed "first in the nation" claim Los Angeles still argues Chicago doesn't deserve. By the end, you'll know the real reason Chicago put a train inside its own expressway — and who actually paid the price for it.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The Mystery of the Median Train
0:54 Why It Wasn't Just Clever Space-Saving
1:29 Chicago's "First in the Nation" Claim
2:57 The 1909 Burnham Plan and Congress Street
5:05 Negotiating With a Cemetery
5:25 The Aging Garfield Park Elevated Line
7:10 Opening Day: The Congress Line Debuts
7:56 Los Angeles' Rival Claim to the Title
9:22 The Real Reason: One Corridor Instead of Two
10:20 Who Paid the Price on Chicago's West Side
12:36 The Template for the Dan Ryan and Kennedy Expressways
15:02 What You're Really Looking At Today
If this is the kind of hidden Chicago history you didn't know you needed, hit subscribe so the next one lands in your feed. And once you've watched — which detail surprised you more, the cemetery negotiation or the railroad that didn't survive? Drop it in the comments.
SOURCES
1. IDOT — I-290 Eisenhower Expressway Overview
https://idot.illinois.gov/transportat...
2. Chicago-L.org — Forest Park (Congress) Line
https://www.chicago-l.org/operations/...
3. vanshnookenraggen — Build Transit Where It's Most Effective
https://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/_in...
4. ChicagoRailfan — CTA Rapid Transit History
https://www.chicagorailfan.com/ctarda...
5. Wikipedia — UIC–Halsted station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UIC%E2%...
#chicago #chicagohistory #hiddenchicagoland #chicagoexpressway #eisenhowerexpressway #ctablueline #chicagotransit #urbanplanning #chicagoltrain #congressexpressway #chicagoinfrastructure #midwesthistory #chicagolandmarks
8 Comments
To move pedestrians efficiently (and not have them default to buying their own cars), rapid transit must be an interplay between busses and trains and must be CONVENIENT. Whether Chicago is 96°, 15°, or a beautiful 72°, there is nothing convenient about walking uphill to the center of a major expressway, so you can then walk down to the traffic level where the air is full of noise and pollution.
The fact that this crappy idea was replicated down other expressways only shows the dominance of bureaucratic thinking. "We'll build it and they'll get to it if they want to ride it." It's not, "Where can we build it to attract the greatest number of riders?" Increased ridership reduces vehicle congestion on streets and highways, keeps the air cleaner, increases transit oriented development, and generates demand for ever increasing transit improvements.
What Chicago built was a mistake.
Why Did Chicago Build a Train in the Middle of a Highway?
Hidden Chicagoland
15,835 views
The Eisenhower Expressway hides one of Chicago's strangest secrets: a full rapid transit line running down the median of an eight-lane highway.
If you've ever wondered why there's a train running through the median of the Eisenhower Expressway, this video traces it back to Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago and a decades-long fight over Congress Street. You'll see how the CTA Blue Line, once called the Congress Line, ended up sharing a corridor with I-290, why a cemetery had to sign off on the route, and how a regional railroad, the Chicago Aurora and Elgin, didn't survive the construction. The video also covers the history of the CTA Blue Line and the Garfield Park elevated line it replaced, plus the disputed "first in the nation" claim Los Angeles still argues Chicago doesn't deserve. By the end, you'll know the real reason Chicago put a train inside its own expressway — and who actually paid the price for it.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The Mystery of the Median Train
0:54 Why It Wasn't Just Clever Space-Saving
1:29 Chicago's "First in the Nation" Claim
2:57 The 1909 Burnham Plan and Congress Street
5:05 Negotiating With a Cemetery
5:25 The Aging Garfield Park Elevated Line
7:10 Opening Day: The Congress Line Debuts
7:56 Los Angeles' Rival Claim to the Title
9:22 The Real Reason: One Corridor Instead of Two
10:20 Who Paid the Price on Chicago's West Side
12:36 The Template for the Dan Ryan and Kennedy Expressways
15:02 What You're Really Looking At Today
If this is the kind of hidden Chicago history you didn't know you needed, hit subscribe so the next one lands in your feed. And once you've watched — which detail surprised you more, the cemetery negotiation or the railroad that didn't survive? Drop it in the comments.
SOURCES
1. IDOT — I-290 Eisenhower Expressway Overview
https://idot.illinois.gov/transportat...
2. Chicago-L.org — Forest Park (Congress) Line
https://www.chicago-l.org/operations/...
3. vanshnookenraggen — Build Transit Where It's Most Effective
https://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/_in...
4. ChicagoRailfan — CTA Rapid Transit History
https://www.chicagorailfan.com/ctarda...
5. Wikipedia — UIC–Halsted station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UIC%E2%...
#chicago #chicagohistory #hiddenchicagoland #chicagoexpressway #eisenhowerexpressway #ctablueline #chicagotransit #urbanplanning #chicagoltrain #congressexpressway #chicagoinfrastructure #midwesthistory #chicagolandmarks