Construction Progressing on Navy Pier Flyover Project

Crews are working towards the trail's scheduled 2018 opening

By Jay Koziarz Mar 14, 2016, 1:26pm CDT

Thanks to a relatively mild winter, work is progressing steadily on the new Navy Pier flyover section of the Chicago Lakefront Trail. Construction on the first phase of the project started in the spring of 2014 and includes a new 16-foot-wide elevated path extending from Ohio Street Beach running parallel along Lake Shore Drive to the Outer Drive Bridge plus a new spur ramp that extending eastward toward Navy Pier. The next phases will see the new segments of the path connected and extended further south, ultimately crossing the Chicago River to DuSable Harbor.

While separating Cyclists and runners along Chicago’s Lakefront Trail has been a long term goal of city officials, the Navy Pier flyover will continue to see people on two feet coexist with people on two wheels. The biggest safety benefit of the project will be a chance for trail users to bypass the vehicular traffic crossings at Grand and Illinois and no longer have to negotiate the terrifying 90-degree blind bends of the Outer Drive Bridge. The entire $60 million project is expected to be completed by 2018.