Making the Grade

A canvas for street artists and taggers.

In a city crisscrossed with railroad tracks, the railroad embankment is a ubiquitous feature of numerous Chicago neighborhoods.  How these geographic features came into existence is a story of public outrage and political bullying.

The web of rails to the city.

By the late 1800's no fewer than 25 railroads had gained access to the city, although many shared rights-of-way through trackage agreements.  The process of reaching the city was fraught with political intrigue and corporate conflict.  Preferred routes were gained by the early players in the railroad market.  They used their political influence to block competitors from entering the city.  Property owners stood as a major impediment, either blocking the railroads or asking extravagant prices for their property rights.  Some late arrivals to the city often resorted to convoluted routes that would get them to the point they could connect with an already established rail corridor.

As the eastern railroads pushed to connect with Chicago, the South side in particular became a tangle of tracks and junctions.  As the city expanded these tracks were crossed by new streets and roads, creating a major conflict between vehicles, pedestrians and trains.  The conflict resulted in carnage.  Carnage resulted in public outrage.  Public outrage demanded political action.

A dangerous playground that often led to tragedy.

Numerous lurid newspaper accounts of killings and maimings of the population further inflamed the citizens of Chicago.  Additionally, as train frequencies rose with the growth of rail traffic, the railroads became an impediment to the smooth flow of street traffic.  Crossings were constantly blocked by slow moving or stationary trains.  In some cases the residents of neighborhoods threatened to tear up tracks unless the problems were solved.

The Chicago City Council realized that the costs of separating the multitude of tracks above or below grade were beyond the financial capacity of the city.  The decision was made to impel the railroads to elevate the tracks at their own expense.  The process began in 1892 with the raising of the Illinois Central tracks in Hyde Park in preparation for the World's Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park.  On May 23rd, 1892 the Council passed an ordinance that required the IC to raise their tracks 18 feet above street level between 51st and 67th Street.  Thus began an over two decade process of forcing and cajoling every railroad to raise their tracks.

IC tracks pre-elevation.

The IC tracks post-elevation. 

The legal arguments for the city's right to pass such ordinances were hazy at best.  While compliance was considered voluntary, the assumption was the railroads would benefit from increased efficiency of operations.  If a railroad balked at the expenditure the City was not above using threats to have it's way.  The Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio were given the option of compliance or having police posted to stop the trains at every crossing.  The City would further threaten to build the necessary causeways and viaducts and the bill the railroads.

Elevation fill in progress near 18th and Halsted

'Little Englewood' station remains in use while track elevation work progresses.  The station will eventually be demolished and replaced.

Recently completed elevation and crossing at Englewood Junction.

Grade separation efforts became some of the greatest privately funded public works projects in the City's history.  By 1919 the railroads had collectively spent $95 million dollars elevating close to 550 miles of track, eliminating 963 grade crossings.  The track elevation also meant the demolition of existing stations and construction of new ones at above grade level.  Some railroads used this opportunity to eliminate station stops, especially in areas served by other transportation options such as streetcars and rapid transit.  In the case of the Chicago & North Western they jacked up their stations to the new track level and built new foundations underneath them.  The IC on the other hand chose to demolish numerous magnificent stations, replacing them with nondescript staircases and wooden platforms.

The C&NW Station at Rosehill Cemetery had been raised to bring it to the new track level.

This Victorian gem at 57th Street in Hyde Park succumbed to the wrecker's ball sometime after grade elevation.

The Great Depression effectively ended the track elevation program.  Further grade separation and crossing protection programs began to be funded jointly through public highway and railroad monies.  The tracks in certain neighborhoods, like Beverly, Morgan Park, South Shore and Fernwood remained at grade.  One of the unintended consequences of track elevation was the division and isolation of communities. Fewer streets were bridged, with many cut off for the sake of cost savings.  The embankments were unattractive, monolithic walls of concrete.  Beauty was forsaken in an era of expediency, and no attempts were made by the railroads to mitigate the visual effect of 'Chinese Walls'.  Racial boundaries were established by the presence of the physical and psychological impediment of the track elevations.

An unrelenting wall of concrete on the Bloomingdale Line.

In the case of one elevated rail line, it's abandonment brings promise of linear parkland in an area of rising income and property values.  The Bloomingdale Line, built by the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (CM&StP) will now be turned into greenspace that will include a bike and running path.  Rather than removing the physical presence, it will be upgraded, repaired and enhanced at City expense.  In this case, the legacy of grade separation will benefit the community in a new way.

A complete list of grade separation ordinances can be found here.

Concept drawings for the new Bloomingdale Trail.