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JRA_LaSalle Street Reconstruction_LaSalle Street Lake Shore Drive Intersection
Lake Shore Drive is a local Chicago expressway running parallel to Lake Michigan. One of its most important intersections is at North LaSalle Drive which connects LSD to Clark Street at the southern end of Lincoln Park. The LaSalle Drive project reconfigures the area to improve both traffic flow and the pedestrian environment and reconnects the existing islands of parkland to the main park area. Among the traffic improvements, the project reconfigures the intersection of LaSalle Drive and Local LSD to remove multiple traffic islands, adds a dedicated left-turn lane from westbound LaSalle Drive to southbound Local LSD and provides new, irrigated landscaped medians between Local LSD and Stockton Drive. Among the pedestrian improvements, the project also creates a safer pedestrian crossing at Local LSD by reducing the number of street crossings from three to one; widens the sidewalk beneath the Lake Shore Drive underpass that connects Lincoln Park to North Avenue Beach; re-decks the pedestrian underpasses beneath LaSalle Drive and provides new LED lighting and skylights in the pedestrian underpasses. LaSalle St Reconstruction Median
JRA_LaSalle Street Reconstruction_Median with Oaks   At the completion of the reconfiguration, there is less of a curve and more green space -- an addition of over 7,000 square feet of new parkland. The re-alignment of LaSalle Drive from Lake Shore Drive to Clark Street necessitated a full assessment of tree impacts and the preparation of tree protection and replacement plans. Additionally, new medians were designed in keeping with other boulevard plantings around the city. Over 130 new trees were planted for the park renovation along with gateway plantings of thousands of perennials and bulbs for the medians.

Jacobs/Ryan Associates not only prepared landscape plans but assisted the engineers with perspective sketches to convey engineering design concepts. Plans were reviewed by the Chicago Park District, the Bureau of Forestry and the Chicago Department of Transportation. The $9.4 million project is fully funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal stimulus program. The project won a 2013 Engineering Excelenbce Merit Award for Transportation from the Illinois ACEC.

Client: Chicago Department of Transportation; Engineers: Civiltech Engineering, Inc

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  www.jacobsryan.com (p) 312.664.3217 / (f) 312.337.1550   1527 N. Sandburg Terrace, Chicago IL 60610