![]() ![]() ![]() Large and substantial buildings have been erected on that street, and the most of them built with the lower story in the nature of a basement, having an area, used as an approach, of descending steps, three to four feet from the building line. Let the Aldermen visit that street, which, during business hours, is crowded to excess, and judge for themselves the effect of allowing a sidewalk of but six feet wide. This will leave the sidewalks on each side of LaSalle street, between Randolph and Washington streets, about six feet from the building line to the curbstone. It will be necessary to take eight or ten feet from each of these sidewalks and add them to the carriage-way in order to enable the latter to be passable for vehicles. The sidewalks at present are 16 feet wide. This, of course, will be insufficient, and will necessitate the use of much of the space now occupied by the sidewalks as a carriage-way. The width of the carriage-way on LaSalle street is 48 feet, if 27 feet be deducted for the tunnel, will leave a roadway on each side of but ten and a half feet. ![]() This makes the total width of the street occupied by the approach to the tunnel 27 feet. The walls have a coping two and a half feet wide, and are surmounted by a railing. This entrance, or approach, in the case of the Washington street tunnel, is 22 feet between the walls, and that width is the least that can be adopted for safety. The tunnel, if constructed at LaSalle street, must have its open entrance for vehicles at the north line of Randolph street, and this open entrance must extend to Lake street, where it will be arched. The committee of the Common Council, have we believe, favored the selection of LaSalle street, but as there has been no final action on the subject, the members of the Board of Aldermen, before acting, should personally examine the locality, and for themselves, see the irreparable injury that will be inflicted, without any possible public benefit which may not be equally secured by locating the tunnel at State street. The success of the river tunnel at Washington street has been considered sufficient to justify the Common Council in proposing to construct a tunnel under the main river, and two sites have been suggested-one at LaSalle street, and the other at State street. By 1950 the south approach had been covered, the tunnel and the north approach were filled and covered by 1953. The LaSalle Street tunnel was in use until November 27, 1939, when it was closed during the construction of the Milwaukee-Lake-Dearborn-Congress subway, the Lake & LaSalle (now Clark & Lake) station of which intersected the tunnel’s south ramp under Lake Street. It opened to electric streetcar service in July 21, 1912. When the tunnel closed to cable cars in 1906 the replacement was lowered into a trench in the riverbed. The reversing of the Chicago River exposed the tunnel in 1900 and a wider, deeper replacement was built in a drydock on Goose Island from steel plate. Originally built for pedestrian and horse-drawn traffic, on Mathe North Chicago Street Railroad leased the tunnel, and it was used for cable car service until October 21, 1906. It was 1,890 feet (576m) long, from Randolf Street north to Hubbard (then Michigan) Street, and cost $566,000.This tunnel, along with the Washington Tunnel, were valuable escape routes during the fire of 1871, which quickly consumed the wooden bridges. It was designed by William Bryson who was the resident engineer for the Washington Street Tunnel. It was started November 3, 1869, and completed July 4, 1871. ![]() The LaSalle Street Tunnel was Chicago’s second tunnel under the Chicago River. Chicago River Bridges | South Branch Bridges | North Branch Bridges | Main Channel Bridges ![]()
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