The Navy Pier Flyover and the Fullerton Avenue Revetment projects aren’t the only improvements coming to Chicago’s Lakefront Trail. In the works for over a decade, the new 35th Street pedestrian and cyclist connection is finally starting to take shape over the Illinois Central rail lines and Lake Shore Drive and will bridge the Lake Meadows community to the west with Burnham Park to the east.

Engineering firm Teng and Associates (which has since combined with exp) won a competition in 2005 to replace the existing 75-year-old, non ADA compliant catwalk. The new 620-foot-long overpass was designed by architect John Hillman who created an ‘S’ shaped profile for both improved aesthetics and maximized skyline views to the north. Work on the $18.3 million project began in the July 2014.

Greater pedestrian connectivity between the South Side and Chicago’s lakefront is certainly a benefit to an area that is beginning to see new investment. Just last week the City of Chicago Plan Commission approved a proposal to bring new housing units, retail, and hotel rooms to Lake Meadows. Bridging the train tracks and Lake Shore Drive was also a notable feature of HOK’s unbuilt 2014 design study for a Bronzeville Obama Presidential Library.

The new 35th Street bridge is expected to open in October of this year. CDOT has already placed a DIVVY station at the construction site’s western end.

·McHugh/Araiza Team to Begin Work on 35th Street Bridge This Summer [McHugh]

·A Handful of New High-Rise Projects Are Moving Forward [Curbed Chicago]