List of crossings of the Chicago River

This is a list of crossings of the Chicago River. The list proceeds upstream following the modern drainage pattern.

South Branch

Image	Crossing	Location	Opened	Coordinates
Becomes Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
	Damen Avenue	Lower West Side
	Loomis Street	Lower West Side
	Ashland Avenue	Lower West Side–Bridgeport
	Halsted Street
	I-90 (Dan Ryan Expressway)
	Cermak Road	Lower West Side–Chinatown
	Canal Street
	Canal Street Railroad Bridge		1914^[1]	41°51′20″N 87°38′13″W / 41.8556°N 87.637°W / 41.8556; -87.637
	18th Street
	St. Charles Air Line Bridge	Near West Side–South Loop	1919	41°51′39″N 87°38′04″W / 41.8608°N 87.6344°W / 41.8608; -87.6344
	Roosevelt Road
	Harrison Street Bridge		1960^[2]	41°52′28″N 87°38′10″W / 41.8744°N 87.6361°W / 41.8744; -87.6361
	Congress Parkway Bridge Ida B. Wells Drive		1956	41°52′32″N 87°38′12″W / 41.87564°N 87.63667°W / 41.87564; -87.63667
	Van Buren Street Bridge	Near West Side–Chicago Loop	1956^[3]	41°52′36″N 87°38′15″W / 41.8768°N 87.6374°W / 41.8768; -87.6374
	Jackson Boulevard Bridge		1915^[4]	41°53′N 87°38′W / 41.88°N 87.64°W / 41.88; -87.64
	Adams Street Bridge			41°52′46″N 87°38′17″W / 41.87934°N 87.63809°W / 41.87934; -87.63809
	Monroe Street Bridge			41°53′N 87°38′W / 41.88°N 87.64°W / 41.88; -87.64
	Madison Street Bridge (Lyric Opera Bridge)		1922^[5]	41°52′55″N 87°38′17″W / 41.882°N 87.638°W / 41.882; -87.638
	Washington Boulevard Bridge			41°52′59″N 87°38′17″W / 41.883°N 87.638°W / 41.883; -87.638
	Randolph Street Bridge			41°53′N 87°38′W / 41.88°N 87.64°W / 41.88; -87.64
	Lake Street Bridge CTA Green Line and Pink Line			41°53′10″N 87°38′17″W / 41.886°N 87.638°W / 41.886; -87.638
Splits into Main Stem and North Branch

Main Stem

Image	Crossing	Location	Opened	Coordinates
	Franklin Street Bridge	River North–Chicago Loop	1920	41°53′14″N 87°38′09″W / 41.8872°N 87.6358°W / 41.8872; -87.6358
	Wells Street Bridge		1922	41°53′15″N 87°38′02″W / 41.8875°N 87.6339°W / 41.8875; -87.6339
	La Salle Street Bridge		1928	41°53′15″N 87°37′57″W / 41.8875°N 87.6325°W / 41.8875; -87.6325
	Clark Street Bridge		1929^[6]	41°53′15″N 87°37′52″W / 41.8875°N 87.631°W / 41.8875; -87.631
	Dearborn Street Bridge		1962	41°53′15″N 87°37′46″W / 41.8875°N 87.6295°W / 41.8875; -87.6295
	State Street Bridge		1949^[7]	41°53′15″N 87°37′41″W / 41.8875°N 87.628°W / 41.8875; -87.628
	State Street Subway Tunnel
	Wabash Avenue Bridge		1930	41°53′16″N 87°37′36″W / 41.8879°N 87.6268°W / 41.8879; -87.6268
	DuSable Bridge Michigan Avenue		1920^[8]	41°53′20″N 87°37′28″W / 41.88886°N 87.62436°W / 41.88886; -87.62436
	Columbus Drive	River North–Streeterville
	Outer Drive Bridge US 41 (Lake Shore Drive)		1937^[9]	41°53′18″N 87°36′51″W / 41.8884°N 87.6141°W / 41.8884; -87.6141
	Chicago Harbor Lock		1938^[10]	41°53′18″N 87°36′23″W / 41.8884°N 87.6064°W / 41.8884; -87.6064
Inflow from Lake Michigan

North Branch

Crossing	Location	Opened	Coordinates
Kinzie Street Railroad Bridge	West Town–Near North Side	1908^[11]	41°53′19″N 87°38′21″W / 41.8885°N 87.6392°W / 41.8885; -87.6392
Kinzie Street Bridge		1909^[12]^[13]	41°53′21″N 87°38′22″W / 41.8890675°N 87.6394027°W / 41.8890675; -87.6394027
Grand Avenue Bridge		1913^[14]^[15]	41°53′29″N 87°38′28″W / 41.8914°N 87.6411°W / 41.8914; -87.6411
Ohio Street
Chicago Avenue
Halsted Street
Division Street
North Avenue Bridge IL 64 (North Avenue)		2008^[16]	41°54′39″N 87°39′25″W / 41.9108°N 87.6569°W / 41.9108; -87.6569
Cortland Street Drawbridge	Logan Square–Lincoln Park	1902	41°55′01″N 87°39′50″W / 41.917°N 87.664°W / 41.917; -87.664
Webster Avenue
Ashland Avenue
Union Pacific North Line
Fullerton Avenue
Damen Avenue
Diversey Parkway
Western Avenue	Avondale–North Center
Belmont Avenue
Addison Street
North Shore Channel Trail
IL 19 (Irving Park Road)
Montrose Avenue
Wilson Avenue
CTA Brown Line
Lawrence Avenue
Argyle Street

References

^ Alexander, Frances; Fitzsimons, Gray; Nicolay, John; Brucken, Carolyn (1992). "Pennsylvania Railroad, South Branch Chicago River Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
^ "Harrison Street Bridges". Chicagology. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
^ McBriarty, Patrick T. (October 1, 2013). Chicago River Bridges. University of Illinois Press. p. 164. ISBN 9780252097256. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
^ Holth, Nathan. "Jackson Boulevard Bridge". historicbridges.org. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
^ Wronski, Richard (June 28, 2011). "Metra riders to be cut off from Madison bridge". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
^ "Chicago River Bascule Bridge, Clarke Street, Spanning Chicago River at Clarke Street, Chicago, Cook County, IL". Historic American Engineering Record. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
^ "State Street Bridge". Bridgehunter.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-06. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
^ ""I Will" Spirit Wins; Open Link Bridge Today". Chicago Tribune. May 14, 1920. p. 3.
^ "Outer Drive Link Bridge". chicagology.com. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
^ Kollias, Louis. "Report No. 08-15R, Description of the Chicago Waterway System for the Use of Attainability Analysis" (PDF). Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD). MWRD Research and Development Department. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Spivey, Justin M. "Chicago & Northwestern Railway, Kinzie Street Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Library of Congress. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
^ "Kinzie St Bridge". Chicago Loop Bridges. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
^ "Kinzie Street Bridge". Historic Bridges. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
^ McBriarty, Patrick (December 2013). "Bridge birthdays this month: Grand Avenue Bridge". Loop North News. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
^ "Happy birthday to Chicago's Grand Avenue bridge". Illinois Press Blog. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
^ "New bridge open for traffic". Chicago Tribune. 2008-05-24. Retrieved 2008-06-10.

[HAER-1] Alexander, Frances; Fitzsimons, Gray; Nicolay, John; Brucken, Carolyn (1992). "Pennsylvania Railroad, South Branch Chicago River Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2014-05-07.

[Chicagology-2] "Harrison Street Bridges". Chicagology. Retrieved 13 October 2024.

[McBriatry-3] McBriarty, Patrick T. (October 1, 2013). Chicago River Bridges. University of Illinois Press. p. 164. ISBN 9780252097256. Retrieved June 14, 2015.

[Holth-4] Holth, Nathan. "Jackson Boulevard Bridge". historicbridges.org. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

[5] Wronski, Richard (June 28, 2011). "Metra riders to be cut off from Madison bridge". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2015.

[HAER2-6] "Chicago River Bascule Bridge, Clarke Street, Spanning Chicago River at Clarke Street, Chicago, Cook County, IL". Historic American Engineering Record. Retrieved 2007-05-28.

[7] "State Street Bridge". Bridgehunter.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-06. Retrieved 2017-08-05.

[Tribune19200514-8] ""I Will" Spirit Wins; Open Link Bridge Today". Chicago Tribune. May 14, 1920. p. 3.

[9] "Outer Drive Link Bridge". chicagology.com. Retrieved 2 January 2025.

["MWRD_2008"-10] Kollias, Louis. "Report No. 08-15R, Description of the Chicago Waterway System for the Use of Attainability Analysis" (PDF). Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD). MWRD Research and Development Department. Retrieved 22 February 2023.

[HAER3-11] Spivey, Justin M. "Chicago & Northwestern Railway, Kinzie Street Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Library of Congress. Retrieved February 10, 2015.

[ChiLoopBridge-12] "Kinzie St Bridge". Chicago Loop Bridges. Retrieved 27 November 2019.

[HistBridge-13] "Kinzie Street Bridge". Historic Bridges. Retrieved 27 November 2019.

[LoopNorthNews-14] McBriarty, Patrick (December 2013). "Bridge birthdays this month: Grand Avenue Bridge". Loop North News. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2024.

[15] "Happy birthday to Chicago's Grand Avenue bridge". Illinois Press Blog. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.

[tribune_photo-16] "New bridge open for traffic". Chicago Tribune. 2008-05-24. Retrieved 2008-06-10.

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