The city broke ground Wednesday on the 312 RiverRun, a new segment of trail for pedestrians, cyclists and runners that will bridge the North Branch of the Chicago River, connecting three existing North Side parks.
The first stage of 312 RiverRun (named, like Goose Island’s popular wheat ale, for Chicago’s original telephone area code) is the Riverview Bridge, a 1,000-foot-long, 16-foot-wide concrete structure above the river that will connect Clark Park, on the east bank of the river south of Addison Street (on grounds once occupied by Riverview Amusement Park), to California Park, which sits between the river’s west bank and California Avenue south of Irving Park Road. The new bridge will be supported by 16 caissons driven into the riverbed, and will have an elevation of 18 feet above the water level (providing clearance for recreational boaters) but will pass underneath the Addison Street bridge.
The Riverview Bridge is projected to be complete by the end of 2018. The next phase will extend a pedestrian and bike path further north from California Park to Horner Park, passing underneath Irving Park Road. That project, which will also involve replacing and widening the 95-year-old Irving Park bridge, will begin next year with a target of completion in late 2019. Once completed, the 312 RiverRun will comprise nearly two miles of uninterrupted path—not quite equaling the 2.7-mile length of the 606. Check out more renderings of the Riverview Bridge below and get a taste of what it will be like to jog or bike above the river next winter.
Courtesy Epstein
Courtesy Epstein
Courtesy Epstein
Courtesy Epstein