The Chicago River at Night

In 1909, architects Daniel Hudson Burnham and Edward Bennett presented an intriguing and visionary concept to the Commercial Club of Chicago: a roadway with an upper and lower level. This was a radical departure, both in purpose and construction, from any work previously undertaken in any city. Critics wrote it off as nothing more than the whim of a dreamer, but Charles H. Wacker, chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission, embraced Burnham's vision of a two-level thoroughfare running in all directions that would be a distributive artery for seven major north-south streets and nine east-west streets. Upon its completion in 1926, Wacker Drive was named in honor of its biggest supporter. The roadway combined both advanced architectural and engineering design to not only beautify the waterfront but also to facilitate traffic flow. Burnham's plan also proposed the straightening of the Chicago River and the construction of a bridge across the river on Michigan Avenue, which opened in 1920 and was the world's first double-decker trunnion bridge. Today it is one of several drawbridges that connect the north and south sides of downtown Chicago.