Police and Fire Department officials closed off the intersection of LaSalle and Washington Streets this morning, cutting off access to office buildings and gumming up traffic in the process.
City officials taped off the stretch of LaSalle Street between Madison and Washington Streets shortly after 10am as ComEd and the Fire Department were working on what one police officer called an issue with a transponder. Other reports said that there was a problem with a generator beneath the road. One Fire Department official on the scene said that he "could not say" what was causing the Loop to turn into a gridlocked hellhole this morning.
Officials opened the streets back up at 11:20am, without much explanation as to what was happening. A gas leak? A Cloverfield-esque monster living in the sewers? Maybe they're just messing with us?
Whatever the case, no one was physically hurt in the ordeal, though downtown motorists might need to see a psychiatrist after navigating through the mess.