A Timeline for Chicago's Kennedy Expressway-- Part 1

From the November 5th Chicago Tribune.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the Northwest Expressway, now called the Kennedy Expressway.

I have taken this road into Chicago many times, taking the Tri-State to the Edens Expressway and suffering and waiting through where the Edens joined the Kennedy at one of the classic bottlenecks of scary driving of all time.

1939 Cook County Board directs highway department to draw up plans for a northwest superhighway estimated to cost $40 million. I imagine this new road was to be based on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

1943 Plan Commission recommends construction of seven expressways costing $232 million.

1946 The northwest route is given top priority and expected to cost $77 million. This was to connect Orchard Field airport (now O'Hare) with the city which had just gotten the field from the US Army.

1946 Chicago officials announce they will start acquiring 72 pieces of property along the proposed northwest route. That sure would raise property values.

1954 Plans to extend the "L" (elevated trains) along land acquired for the northwest and southern (Dan Ryan) expressways.

Mote to Come. --RoadDog