Chicago Skyway
Length:	7. 8 mi[1] (13 km)
Formed:	April 1958
West end:	I-90/94 at the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago
Major junctions:	US 12/US 20/US 41 at the Illinois-Indiana state line. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand Interstate 90 (I-90 is the longest interstate highway in the United States at nearly 3100 miles (5000 kilometers Dan Ryan Expressway runs from the Circle Interchange with I-290 near downtown Chicago through the south side of the city Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. US Route 12, or US 12, is an east-west United States highway running from Grays Harbor on the Pacific Ocean in the state of Washington to downtown US Route 20 is an east-west United States highway. As the "0" in its route number implies U US Route 41 is a north-south United States Highway that runs from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Miami Florida.
East end:	I-90/Indiana Toll Road at the Illinois-Indiana state line. Interstate 90 (I-90 is the longest interstate highway in the United States at nearly 3100 miles (5000 kilometers The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East-West Toll Road, is a tolled Highway running east-west across the northernmost part of Indiana

The Chicago Skyway also known as Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge System is a 7. A toll bridge is a Bridge over which Traffic may pass upon payment of a fee or toll. 8 mile (12. 5 km) long tollway bridging Interstate 90 at the Dan Ryan Expressway on the west end, and the Indiana Toll Road on the east end. A toll road, (also known as a tollway, turnpike, pike, or toll highway, especially if it is constructed to Freeway standards Interstate 90 (I-90 is the longest interstate highway in the United States at nearly 3100 miles (5000 kilometers Dan Ryan Expressway runs from the Circle Interchange with I-290 near downtown Chicago through the south side of the city The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East-West Toll Road, is a tolled Highway running east-west across the northernmost part of Indiana

The main feature of the Skyway is a 1/2-mile (800 m) long steel truss bridge, known as the "High Bridge". The bridge spans the Calumet River and Calumet Harbor, a major harbor for industrial ships. The Calumet River refers to a system of heavily industrialized Rivers and canals in the region between the neighborhood of South Chicago in Chicago Illinois The main span is 650 feet (197 m) long, provides for 125 feet (37. 9 m) of vertical clearance, and is the highest road in Chicago. Between 2001 and 2004 authorities spent $250 million (USD) to rebuild much of the Skyway.

The toll is $3. 00 for passenger cars and other two axle vehicles, with higher rates for vehicles with multiple axles. A discount is given during the overnight hours for vehicles with three or more axles.

The bridge is heavily documented by the Library of Congress Historic American Engineering Record Survey number HAER IL-145. The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS Historic American Engineering Record (HAER and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS are programs of the The survey consists of nearly 30 data pages and 21 black and white images.

Contents 1 History 2 Exit list 3 References 4 External links

History

The Chicago Skyway was originally known as the Calumet Skyway. It cost $101 million to construct and took about 34 months to build. Nearly eight miles of elevated roadway, it was originally built as a shortcut to Indiana and the steel mills from the southeast side of Chicago; there are only two eastbound exits east of the toll barrier, whereas there are four westbound exits west of the toll barrier. The State of Indiana ( was the 19th US state admitted into the union It opened April 16, 1958. Events 1178 BC - A Solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom ^[2]

In the 1960s, the newly constructed Dan Ryan Expressway and neighboring Calumet Expressway, Kingery Expressway and Borman Expressway provided free alternatives to the tollway, and the Skyway became much less used. Dan Ryan Expressway runs from the Circle Interchange with I-290 near downtown Chicago through the south side of the city The Bishop Ford Freeway, formerly known as the Calumet Expressway, is a portion of Interstate 94 in northeastern Illinois, south of downtown Chicago The Robert Kingery Expressway, formerly called the Tri-State Highway is a three-mile-long (5 km eight-lane Expressway in northeastern Illinois. The Frank Borman Expressway is an east-west highway in northwest portion of the U As a result, from the 1970s through the early 1990s, the Skyway was unable to repay revenue bonds used in its construction. ^[3] Numerous proposals were floated in the 1980s and 1990s to tear down the Skyway because of low traffic counts.

Traffic volumes have rebounded in recent years, (to 47,700 vehicles per day)^[4] partially because of the construction of casinos in Northwest Indiana, and the City of Chicago claims a record number of motorists used the skyway in 2002. A casino is in the modern sense of the word a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of Gambling activities The State of Indiana ( was the 19th US state admitted into the union

In 2003 and 2004, the city of Chicago initiated a $250 million project to rehabilitate and widen the Skyway. The project involved extensive work on the cantilever span and its approaches that included replacing the bridge's structural steel and rebuilding the piers that support the structure, and reconstructing the bridge deck. Because the City of Chicago required the Skyway to remain open during construction, engineers had to construct temporary bridge piers that would bear the load of the bridge and its traffic while new piers were built. Once ready, the bridge was lifted up onto the temporary piers using 600 ton hydraulic jacks, the old piers were removed, and new ones were built. Crews also devised innovative methods for replacing the bridge's structural steel, replacing steel members one at a time. This process involved installing hydraulic chords around the component to be replaced. The bridge load was then transferred to the hydraulic chord, the steel member was removed and a new steel member was then installed. ^[5]

Recently, major construction on both the Kingery and Borman expressways has increased traffic on the Skyway, as well as the presence of riverboat casinos in Hammond and East Chicago, Indiana. A casino is in the modern sense of the word a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of Gambling activities Hammond (ˈhæmənd is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, opposite Chicago, Illinois. In June 2005 the Skyway became compatible with electronic toll collection, with users now able to pay tolls using I-PASS or E-ZPass transponders. Electronic toll collection (ETC, an adaptation of military " Identification friend or foe " technology aims to eliminate the delay on Toll roads It is a I-PASS is the Electronic toll collection system used by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority on its toll highways E-ZPass is an Electronic toll collection system used on most tolled Roads Bridges and Tunnels in the northeastern United States

The Chicago Skyway was a part of the New York-Chicago Toll Road system. The New York-Chicago Toll Road system consists of a nearly-unbroken series of Toll roads, all relatively early Expressways nearly connecting Manhattan The City of Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation formerly maintained the Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge System. A transaction that gave the City of Chicago a $1. 83 billion dollar cash infusion leased the Skyway to the Skyway Concession Company (SCC), a joint-venture between the Australian Macquarie Infrastructure Group and Spanish Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte S.A., which assumed operations on the Skyway on a 99-year operating lease. The Macquarie Infrastructure Group is one of several listed trusts managed by Macquarie Group Limited. Cintra SA (Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, ( is an international operator of toll roads and car parks SCC will be responsible for all operating and maintenance costs of the Skyway but has the right to all toll and concession revenue. The Triple-A bond insurer Financial Security Assurance Inc. (FSA) has guaranteed $1. 4 billion of senior bonds to provide long-term funding for the privately operated Chicago Skyway. On June 30, 2006, this same joint-venture assumed responsibility for operating and maintaining the adjacent Indiana East-West Toll Road for $3. Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East-West Toll Road, is a tolled Highway running east-west across the northernmost part of Indiana 8 billion. The agreement between SCC and the City of Chicago marked the first time an existing toll road was moved from public to private ownership toll road in the United States. ^[6]

Historically, the Chicago Skyway was signed as and was widely considered to be part of I-90. However, around 1999, the City of Chicago realized they had never received official approval to designate the skyway as I-90. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. (In addition, it is not built to Interstate standards, although recently there have been substantial upgrades. I-blank widesvg|90px|right]] Standards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials ) The city subsequently replaced most of the "I-90" signage with "TO I-90" signage. However, the Illinois DOT has always and continues to report the skyway as part of the Interstate system, and the Federal Highway Administration apparently still considers the Chicago Skyway an official part of I-90. The Federal Highway Administration ( FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in Highway transportation ^[7]

The Skyway's official name, referring to it as a "toll bridge" rather than a "toll road", is the result of a legal quirk. At the time of its construction, the city charter of Chicago did not provide the authority to construct a toll road. However, the city could build toll bridges, and it was found that there was no limit to the length of the approaches to the bridge. Therefore, the Skyway is technically a toll bridge with a six-mile-long approach. This also is part of the reason that there are no exits available until after one has crossed the bridge and paid the toll.

Exit list

The entire road is in Chicago, Cook County. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Cook County is a county in the US state of Illinois. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles

Mile	Destinations	Notes
101	I-90 west / I-94 west (Dan Ryan Expressway) – Chicago Loop	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
102	State Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
103	St. In the US state of Illinois, Interstate 90 runs roughly northwest through the northern end of the state from the Indiana border to Wisconsin In the US state of Illinois, Interstate 94 generally runs north-south through the northeastern portion of the state in Lake and Cook Dan Ryan Expressway runs from the Circle Interchange with I-290 near downtown Chicago through the south side of the city Population According to the 2000 Census, 16388 people live in the Loop State Street is a major north-south thoroughfare in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Lawrence Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
104	73rd Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
105	Stony Island Avenue to Lake Shore Drive	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
107	87th Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Chicago Skyway toll plaza
108	Anthony Avenue, 92nd Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
110	US 12 / US 20 / US 41 (Indianapolis Boulevard)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	I-90 east (Indiana Toll Road) to I-80 / I-65 / I-94	Continuation into Indiana

References

External links

• Official website of the Chicago Skyway
• Chicago Skyway to Implement Electronic Toll Collection
• Chicago Department of Transportation
• Best of Transportation Page
• Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)
• Illinois Highways
• Chicago Skyway Rehab

---

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic