Streets: Multilevel

In an attempt to ease congestion and create a more beautiful city at the level where most pedestrians walked, the 1909 Plan proposed the construction of a network of multilevel streets in the commercial portion of center city. The upper level of the street would be the be scenic level, with pedestrians milling about and light vehicular traffic, and the lower levels would be devoted to deliveries and the transportation of goods in loud, dirty trucks. In this way, the purpose of these multilevel streets was two-fold. It kept traffic on the upper levels moving and kept the sights and sounds of the city clear of the industry that made it function. 

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Possibly the most famous of these multilevel streets in Chicago is Wacker Drive, which follows the bank of the Chicago River. Constructed in 1926, Lower Wacker serves both drivers hoping to avoid heavy city traffic up top and the various business that line the banks of the river. In this way, Lower Wacker is successful, but there are mixed opinions regarding Chicago's lower streets. They tend to be quite dark and maze-like as the concrete pillars that support the upper street obscure drivers views. They are also popular locations for crime due to their dark and inhospitable nature. Regardless, they do seem to allow for faster driving in the congested center city.