beneath Chicago is a hidden network of roadways and tunnels that some call the city's Forest of
pillars this is Lower Wacker Drive unknown to most tourists and suburbanites this turn of the
century Marvel provides locals with a special shortcut across the most congested parts of the
city yet the mystery gets deeper as below Lower Wacker Drive is a third hidden level that is much
harder to access and almost entirely forgotten today we discover the history of Wacker Drive
and its forgotten third level I'm your host Ryan so cash and you're watching it's history
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for context let's have a look at this historical road map from 1902 featuring the city of Chicago
with some rather pronounced differences from the city we know today Rail lines play a far more
Central role particularly on the north side of the river terminating at the water later
becoming Navy Pier as you'll also see on the map these Rail lines connected to various dock
buildings along the river and Lakefront from where the cargo was loaded and sent to the rest of the
city and onto the country this relationship between boat and train shape the nature of
Chicago's early infrastructure still with the rise of the automobile and the implementation
of Chicago's great plan by Daniel Burnham the city was about to receive a transformation that
would be the greatest thing since the Chicago Fire the 1909 plan of Chicago was a publication
that recommended many projects to transform the city the entire agenda was published by
prominent businessmen who recognized the needs of a growing city considering that in 1900 over
a million people lived in the town when just 50 years earlier the population was in the
thousands things began to feel a bit crowded and chaotic Additionally the 1893 world's Colombian
Exposition which we covered in an earlier video showcased to the world just how much economic
potential Chicago had and hence when it came to the reality of implementing the great plan of
Chicago business tycoons from wide and far would come to take their piece of the profits the plan
included widening streets creating or improving Parks upgrading the railroad and bringing massive
changes to the harbor the book proposed some Ultra Modern even futuristic ideas which at the
time walked the line of sounding utopian all the same some of these ideas were enacted including
the mysterious tunnels under Wacker Drive still the other accomplishments made the city what it
is today especially concerning the lake front so let's have a look the lake was always at the
heart of Chicago in fact when Explorer Robert De Lasalle first arrived in 1687 on the land that
would later become Chicago he recalled in his Memoir quote we arrived at a said place called
Chicago spelled c-h-i-c-a-g-u which according to what we were able to learn of it has taken
this name because of the quality of garlic that grows in the forests in this region that is to
say the area's Wetlands were so vast that they presented a defining odor fast forward to the
plan of Chicago in 1909 improvements to the lakefront were essential goals of the authors
who exclaimed quote the lakefront by right belongs to the people not a foot of its Shores should be
appropriated to the exclusion of the people and so the plan recommended expanding the parks along the
shoreline with landfill and now out of 29 miles of City Lakefront only four aren't Parks this was
a fan fantastic gesture by the city which could have enjoyed immense tax revenues had those 29
miles been industrialized outer Parks were also a point of Interest with projects like the Cook
County forest preserve seeing some of its first mentions in writing around this time that being
said changes to the transit infrastructure would be what brought about the most drastic Innovations
City Rail lines would be pooled for efficiency and Freight handling and in overall consolidation
of Chicago's six Inner City Railroad passenger terminals would be placed west of the loop and
south of Roosevelt Road Union Station would be finished by 1925 and with these improvements the
loops business district began to sprawl Southward consolidating The Rail lines would significantly
impact the river's North Bank but it would be the systematic arrangement of streets that resulted in
the underground forests of pillars you see the city urgently needed more comprehensive ways
to relieve congestion Chicago's iconic diagonal Street designs were one solution of which Ogden
Avenue is a pretty good example Michigan Avenue or now the Magnificent Mile as a result of this
project was widened and extended across the river replacing Pine Street up to Ohio and on the South
Bank of the river a Triple Decker Road would be created with Upper Wacker Drive serving more
Scenic and representative purposes Lower Wacker Drive offering a pragmatic way to avoid congestion
and lower lower Wacker Drive or subwhacker drive for utilities this concept seemed impossible
but as you may have noticed in my other Chicago History videos the city has a way of beating the
odds the original Triple Decker Road was completed in 1926 and replaced South water and River streets
the route extended to Michigan Avenue where one could cross the river on a double decker Bridge
construction costs came to 8 million dollars and the name was ultimately chosen to honor Charles
Henry Wacker a German American businessman he served as chairman of the general Committee of the
commercial Club of Chicago and was later appointed chairman of the Chicago planned commission by the
mayor whacker was a powerful force in realizing the grand plan of Chicago and his involvement
went deep as he was also the director of the 1893 Colombian Exposition Charles Henry Wacker passed
away on October the 31st 1929 in Lake Geneva Wisconsin and now rests at the Graceland Cemetery
of Chicago between 1948 and 1954 additional extensions were added south of Congress Parkway
and Harrison replacing Market Street between 1963 and 1975 wings were added connecting Lake Shore
Drive to the new lower level this connection made a lot of sense but was complicated as back then
Lakeshore Drive had an s-curve at the river on a Viaduct over the Illinois Central Railroad yard
meaning that the lower levels were dead ended however in 1986 new alignments were made to
improve the connection and although the road was now a fully connected utility of the city time had
already begun to take its toll by the early 2000s Wacker Drive was crumbling along some portions of
the original Upper Deck the entire roadway failed to meet modern Road widths and clearance standards
the visual aspects of the street that made it so appealing in films like The Blues Brothers or The
Dark Knight also made it highly impractical hence the city contracted experts to develop
a particular cast in place system to bring the road up to code after 20 months and 200 million
dollars the new roadway was completed and is expected to last up to 100 years Riverfront
walkways were also added for pedestrians yet the historic Limestone elements were maintained and
the city even reproduced the Street's original 1926 lighting concept a lovely touch upgrades
continued through the decades to follow and in 2014 the American Council of engineering
companies awarded the Builders of Wacker Drive their prestigious Grand conceptor award
because in 2014 every day up to 135 000 vehicles and 150 000 pedestrians moved through the roadway
which at the time was an active construction zone so with that in mind let's have a look
at what Upper Wacker Lower Wacker and lower lower Wacker consists of in the modern day South Wacker
Drive starts at a somewhat gritty intersection of Harrison and Wacker from here drivers can
enter the upper roadway or the first section of the lower deck should you follow the upper deck
you'd find yourself on the edge of the loop along the river traveling north to your right would be
the Sears Tower which was the tallest building in the world for many years had just a bit down the
road and to your left would be the Lyric Opera of Chicago a masterpiece of a building and then
across the river is the augieville transportation center which is a modern monstrosity that replaced
the historic Wells Street Station and cnw terminal anyhow once you cross Lake Street Upper Wacker
Drive curves East and it's here that pedestrians can enjoy the Chicago Riverwalk with unique views
of merchandise mart it's also from this level that you could imagine the 60 plus miles of Forgotten
tunnels that connected to that building and other historic ones in the area from this vantage point
you can also see where the Chicago River branches away towards the Kenzie Street bridge this is
where the Chicago flood occurred in 1992 when construction Crews accidentally punctured the
Forgotten tunnels it was also this bridge where the driver of the Dave Matthew bands tour bus
dumped raw sewage directly into the river through the graded roadway unfortunately a jam-packed
tourist boat was passing right underneath at the time continuing East you'll be able to admire
Chicago's best Bridges and if you're lucky a few may be open to accommodate boat traffic which is
an epic sight to behold upon reaching the junction where Wacker Drive connects to Michigan Avenue or
Lake Shore Drive you'll see this guy who decided to strike a pose for Google's camera anyhow before
the upper deck of the road terminates the first lower level becomes exposed the upper level is
a fantastic way to travel if you'd like to take in the beauty of Chicago's architecture but if you're
just looking to go from A to B or a more or Batman type Vibe the lower level will be your route let's
start back at the beginning you could enter the lower level from West Harrison or if you're
coming from the suburbs exit 290 directly into the tunnel this is an excellent way to experience the
road because some people even considered whacker drive to be an inner city Highway prototype the
lower level moves along so well that entering it in this fashion almost feels like a portal
to Navy Pier this level of the roadway has also been famous as a place of danger and filth and
it's certainly not a place that pedestrians would enjoy the road has several entrances with the one
at Lake and Post Street considered a secret Lower Wacker Drive is 2.2 miles long and is probably the
only way to cross downtown in under seven minutes sometimes even during rush hour most drivers think
they've discovered a secret but fail to realize that the top secret is actually right below their
wheels lower lower Wacker Drive or subwhacker drive is not well known to the public since
access is limit it the roadway was built in 1975 to provide basement level deliveries and garbage
removal to many skyscrapers along the Route in my opinion this concept is a nod to Chicago's Freight
tunnels that were used for the same purposes many decades prior some Lower Wacker Drive was also
used for parking and storage furthermore this level was the location of the city's notorious
impound yard which is how most citizens came to learn of it however it was also noticed by other
means you see nearby residents reported hearing very bizarre sounds at all hours of the night from
lower lower Wacker Drive which they hypothesized came from street races Elliot Carter Put It Best
in his article when he stated quote deeper still beneath Lower Wacker Drive is a little-known third
roadway challenging to find and little visited by law enforcement Lower Wacker Drive was built
in 1975 to provide parking spaces for garbage trucks storage for many unneeded trash cans and
city property there's a strange Paradox down here you're simultaneously in the heart of downtown and
cut off from the Metropolis Above This nearby remoteness makes lower lower Wacker Drive
popular among specific drivers who assemble on the weekends for high octane drag races residents of
nearby apartment buildings can hear the echoing screeches late into the night on Fridays and
Saturdays the Chicago Tribune estimated in 2015 that the racing has been going on for more than
a decade but added that nobody could say for sure the races typically happened on Friday
nights many participants came from Northwest Indiana the article goes on stating other than
drag racers most Chicagoans only visit the lowest Wacker catacomb if their car has been towed by the
city's difficult to access Impound Lot located on Lower Drive obvious obviously with one road
having three levels confusion is inevitable Chicago had to install special beacons in
lower levels so that visitors wouldn't panic when they found themselves underground in a dangerous
looking place with no GPS traditional Maps might not help you either as in one square mile there's
lower lower East Wacker Lower East Wacker Upper East Wacker Lower West Wacker Upper West Wacker
lower North Wacker upper North Wacker Lower South Wacker and upper South Wacker now if you
think I'm exaggerating I challenge you to attempt navigating these roadways using Google Earth and
you'll see that you can get lost that way as well and with all that being said perhaps the
confusion is part of the beauty the navigational challenge can keep people out and perhaps that's
a good thing leaving at least one fixture of the city to serve the people who live there so as I
hope you now see Chicago's Triple Decker Road is a truly unique example of Ingenuity against
the odds providing convenience for residents a utility for skyscrapers and a little obscurity
an adventure for visitors like a necessary piece of a complicated puzzle Chicago would be
incomplete without Upper Wacker Drive Lower Wacker Drive and lower lower Wacker Drive Chicago's not
alone in this either many cities have mysterious underground spaces which we love exploring here
on its history so if that sounds good to you and you'd like to enjoy more hit the Subscribe
button and if you'd like to see an underground world that makes Wacker Drive look minuscule by
comparison don't miss my video about the catacombs of Paris and we'll leave it there for today feel
free to DM me your episode ideas on Instagram and until next time this is Ryan silkash signing off