Why Chicago's Hidden Street has 3 Levels (The History of Wacker Drive)
Vložit
- čas přidán 28. 05. 2024
- They are now running a Black Friday Sale. Go to establishedtitles.com/ITSHISTORY and get an additional 10% off on any purchase with code ITSHISTORY. Thanks to Established Titles for sponsoring this video!
Wacker Drive is a major multilevel street in Chicago, Illinois, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River in the Loop.[2] The vast majority of the street is double-decked; the upper level is intended for local traffic, and the lower level for through traffic and trucks serving buildings on the road (and originally a dock). It is sometimes cited as a precursor to the modern freeway, though when it was built the idea was that pleasure vehicles would use the upper level. It is the only street in the city that is prefixed with all four cardinal directions, albeit on different parts of its route.[a] The drive is named for early 20th century Chicago businessman and city planner Charles H. Wacker. The upper level is normally known as Upper Wacker Drive, and the lower level is Lower Wacker Drive. A short part has a third level, sometimes called Lower Lower Wacker Drive[3] or Sub Lower Wacker Drive.
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @itshistory
IT’S HISTORY - Weekly tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.
» CONTACT
For brands, agencies and sponsorships, please contact us at itshistory@thoughtleaders.io
/ itshistoryx
/ ryansocash
» CREDIT
Sponsor - Established Titles
Scriptwriter - Ryan Socash
Editor - Patrycja Klimczuk
Host - Ryan Socash
» SOURCES
/ itshistory
» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.
Thank you for calling it the Sears Tower and not that Willis abomination...
I refuse to acknowledge that building as the Willis Tower. Sears tower forever.
We used to have some supermarkets in Fresno California called Mayfair. They went out of business years ago, but we still have an area, called the Mayfair District, where one of those stores once used to be. My ex-boyfriend's brother was a manager at that supermarket.
It will always be the Searis Tower.
Forever.
(That’s how most all Chicagoins pronounce it, quickly and with an almost silent i.
‘The Searis Tower’ )
Sears Tower and Comiskey Park!
And Marshall Field"s
Fun Fact. I created the Chicago Bridge and Viaduct Clearance project about 15 years ago. I measured every clearance in Chicago including all of lower, and lower lower, Wacker Dr. plus every other bridge (over roadways). Was little dangerous at times but a great experience. If youre a trucker that drives in Chicago you have used my Clearance and routing chart.
Cool! I live in Hegewisch! I've used lower Wacker drive a few times!
Well, Thank you, kind Sir.
Thanks for creating your Bridge clearance Warning GPS!I’ve driven Trucks in different dicey areas around the city . How about the Kennedy bridge where it intersects with North Avenue ?! That bridge is long overdue for a bridge Overhaul! I delivered lumber to the Home Depot there and tried to avoid that bridge like the plague ! I’d get off early & the Division st exit and run North on Elston to North 🚛💥🫣
@@patrickcutrera3958 get off at Armitage or Division.
Some of your bridge clearance calculations seem a bit scary on the approach
I worked in Chicago for five years. One time I had a downtown meeting with several colleagues. It was the middle of winter and frigid cold outside, esp. close to the lake. One of my colleagues who had lived in Chicago for many years showed us how we could use underground tunnels to go from building to building for several blocks without having to deal with the weather.
Yes, it’s called the Pedway, very useful when needed.
I remember when that name was introduced, it was not 'pedestrian' but another 'ped-word' and the rule was if you found them you wither had to steal their clothes and come out carrying them or put on clothes you buy out of a vending machine, they had down there, back in the day.
I grew up around Minneapolis, but visited often. Minneapolis / St Paul also have an underground network of tunnels. It was initially built for UofM students to get to different buildings during the winter, but the cities decided to expand on it. They are amazing. I never knew Chicago had them as well, very cool!
@@travcurt Good to know in case I ever find myself in MSP!
Lmfao. You called them tunnels
Despite the high rent, rising food prices, violence and poverty, I've been a Chicagoan for 41yrs, having visited places such as Mississippi, Wisconsin, Philadelphia, and Louisiana, I always come back home to Illinois and I love My city, I really do 🫡🫡🫡❤ the food, architecture, monuments, history, landscapes, sports teams, music, AND people, there's no place like SWEET HOME CHICAGO !
In from Boston but moved up St Louis. I would give my left arm to live near chicago!
@@bicivelo we'll be glad to have you live with us.
In addition to lower Wacker Dr, there are a bunch of other lower drives: Michigan, Water, Columbus etc. All interconnected.
Yes and they can be particularly useful if you remember which ones will take you back up to “ground level”, and which ones will take you down underneath.
Getting from lower Michigan Avenue to Michigan Avenue is a pain. Google always sends you underground then it stops working down there lol
When a major celebrity say shows up to nbc studios, the limo has the option to go use the lower portion levels of the lower wacker tunnel system to unload in the basement level away from the prying eyes of street level. It is said Michael Jordan would pull up to the studios for his interviews in his ferrari testarossa same one like dr dre was driving in la.
We had mj in Chicago, sometimes hed pull up in front of his restaurant in the ferrari 😊
I used to use Lower Wacker quite frequently, between 1976-1980. It was a great way to avoid street-level traffic and inclement weather, you just had to watch out for potholes and freight trains. Back then, a few of those skyscrapers had loading docks large enough to handle one or two boxcars.
Growing up in Chicago during that time ( 1971 - 1981, 1984 ) I can remember those parts of lower Wacker Drive. There were still parts of the freight train rails being removed from ajoining areas just around a decade ago ( when I last visited for the White Sox victory parade ).
It’s so small & dark
With my love for logistics I'd love to have seen all that. That kind of loading dock stuff is just awesome to me.
Lower Wacker gets all the attention figure out lower Wacker to lower Michigan to Illinois is how to get to the Beach 🏖️🏖️🏖️
Still use it. Life saver especially when parades or something is going on in the loop.
Lower Wacker is a parallel dimension where GPS doesn't work. It swallows you up and spits you out somewhere completely different and nowhere near where you were intending to go.
Also I found Lower Lower Wacker only once in my life-by accident- and I was creeped the hell out.
Lower Wacker is the closest thing we have to Wormholes on earth. Space Warps in order to get you to far away regions faster than you normally would be able to.
A wormhole into infinite other dimensions, poor Google maps has no idea wtf is happening down there
The Uber killer lol
@iancontreras7688 no fr tho. You've no idea how many times I try to tell my uber drivers to avoid lower wacker.
Used to drive old lower whacker (before they made it nice and kicked out the homeless) like a racetrack at 3am ba I in high school. I liked it better back in the day before GPS. You are correct GPS doesn’t work down there but it does guide people to use it. Way more traffic now than back in the day.
Fun fact: if you get your car towed in Chicago, it will be stored in the third level of Wacker. Meaning, your car is gone forever.
Which before you thought was never never land… now you can just say it’s by the tiki hut on the river.
Happened to us. Walked around for hours trying to find a mysterious lot that was on the gps but nowhere to be seen. Finally realized we were right above it the whole time -_-
🤣🤣🤣
Remember the movie adventures in babysitting 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣💪 good ol days
True but false at the same time.
Get your car towed on the Southside it goes to Doty road impound. I know. My car was towed
Years ago, and when I used to get to Chicago while visiting from WISCONSIN, I discovered Lower MICHIGAN avenue! Few people realize that Michigan Avenue stores are actually on the 2nd floor of many of the buildings, because they built it up to allow for deliveries, utilities, and access that would normally block a busy street. Whoever thought of it was really thinking ahead.
As a now retired bike messenger in Chicago I can literally guide anyone through every inch of Lower and Sub Wacker. We all have to use it to reach the docks that would eventually be our destinations. What I really wanna mention is how a lot of us always joked that Lower Wacker is essentially the slums from the highly acclaimed video game Final Fantasy VII. All that aside, love your videos! If you want better access to Chicago's true underground; ask a messenger. We know everything downtown and in the neighborhoods we work in!
I know u buddy
@@MrCricri123456 shhhhh you see nobody 🤫
What Bike did you use . . . Motor bike Cycle
@@ClotEastwood track bike
I never found any Materia while down there back in the day... :D
I was in Chicago for the first time over the summer and accidentally found myself in the lower levels. No clue how I got there, but it sure was a pain to get out!
lol
GPS dont work down there either
Yep same here
I'm from Chicago, and it took me years to figure out Lower Wacker, sometimes I still get turned around down there. 🤣
I didn't find it a pain to get out, but then I went there intentionally and did a map recon beforehand.
Learning to navigate lower Wacker was seriously game changer in terms of getting through the loop easier!
Lower lower Wacker Dr was used for drag racing for more than 10 years. I remember going there with my friends in the 80's and it was already well established. The more things change, the more things stay the same.
I visited Chicago a couple of weeks ago and drove around lower Wacker drive, it was very cool. I knew from various movies such as the fugitive that they had roads a lower level and always wanted to drive on them.
"This is definitely Lower Wacker Drive! If my estimations are correct, we should be very close to the Honorable Richard J. Daley Plaza! "
When I saw that movie I'm like these guys missed 3 ramps to go to RJD Plaza just to get chased around Chicago for 15 mins more 😂. The first ramp was the more direct but they jumped on top of the cop car so I give them that one.
The Blues Brothers movie scenes on Lower Wacker were brought back into my memory by comments like yours. Thank you.
Do not forget The Billy Goat Tavern that also inspired John Belushi on SNL.
(:
@@wills2140 & Jose Herrera: Yeah, but try driving like Jake and Elwood did down there at your peril!
That's where they got that Picasso.
@@mar4kl with the same car lol
I used to use lower Wacker all the time to get from LSD to the 290 in a hurry. Then one day I found myself on lower lower or sub Wacker and was dumbfounded! So many cool areas to explore down there, but be respectful of the folks living down there, and stay safe because you are seriously isolated from everything else!
not a single person that drives down here has "forgotten" about these streets, it's just newbs or youtubers that seem to think so. There's also lower Michicigan, Columbus, Kinzie, Wells, Northwater and a lower pedestrian street going a couple miles under the Loop that has a mall and a DMV an connects to the Millenium Park {Bean} and its train station to name a few. if you go to the north side of the river, you can see the original street entrance of the oldest buildings. They used to cal lower Wacker "Emerald City" because all the city street lights down there were nearly the same green as a traffic light, thousands of them.
I remember those green lights!
*Thank You Jake & Elwood; I would not have known about it without the Blues Brothers!* 😻👍
The original Billy Goat Tavern is on Lower Wacker at Michigan Avenue. Made famous by SNL’s John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Loraine Newman. John Belushi and Bill Murray knew the Billy Goat from their Second City comedy club days before SNL. The original owners really did run it like the skit. Customers lined up by the wall inside and owner (Bill Charuchas) would go down the line “Cheezborger! Cheezborger!..." They were fast at delivering your food.
And those are the worst cheeseburgers you will ever have! Maybe they were better at one time but they are very thin, dry, and rubbery now.
It's on Lower Michigan Ave.
Actually the first Billy goat was on Madison. Of course the iconic one is on lower Michigan Ave.. and just to set the record straight for the narrator, the train station is not oggleville, it is Ogilvie, named after Governor Richard Ogilvie, Republican from Illinois
Mike Royko has stuff hanging on the walls too. My architecture professor brought me to the BGT in 1990.
@@tdbass2968 really, damn that was a great place back in the day.
As someone else said: "OH-gil-vee."
Named after Richard Ogilvie, a former governor of Illinois.
Thanks for showing this. Went to Chicago a few years back and at the river looked up and saw this road and was fascinated... forgot about it until today. Chicago has some of the most interesting infrastructure by far, what a cool city
I grew up in Chicago from 1958 to 1994 when I retired. I drove a truck in the city and used lower Wacker Dr many times. I live in northeast TN. now and love my view of the mountains but really miss the pizza and Italian beef sandwiches.
FYI Lou Malnati’s and Portillos both ship.
What city in TN? I used to live in Johnson City. I get all the Chicago style pizza, hot dogs, and Italian beef I want, but I miss those mountains
Chicago is freakin' beautiful especially downtown. I was there for the first time ever.
And don’t forget “cheeseburger, cheeseburger”.
RIP John Belushi.
Billy Goat Tavern is on the other side of the river on Hubbard. Still on the lower level of Chicago, though.
Ate there a few time, mostly with people from out of town, lol. Only reason to eat there. 😁
I use lower and lower lower wacker for work every day! You gotta do a video on the secret highway that connects McCormick to navy pier!
Wait is there a bridge that connects McCormick to the pier
@@miamii_vibez its a road but yes
If you know, you know!
You mentioned Wacker passing away in Lake Geneva. Would love to see some videos about the history of that town. Lots of old wealthy Chicago families had mansions around the lake which has a unique way of the USPS delivering mail by boat. Play Boy built a resort there and the founder of DnD is from the area and still holds GaryCon at the old Play Boy Resort.
Also the most visited place by kids at 18 years of age from Illinois, because the drinking age in Wisconsin was 18, and 21 in Illinois, lol.
That's why I visited Lake Geneva when I was 18...
@@Backroad_Junkie yep - I'm from the southern wi area and y'all were the bane of the locals existence lmao
@@Backroad_Junkie Why go so far? We had some fun times in Kenosha back then.
@@kerosenecowboy5684 Well, let me personally apologize for my behavior like, uh, 45 years ago, lol.
But I never got into any trouble, never drove drunk, and contributed greatly to the local economy. But I admit, I've only visited Lake Geneva once after I survived my teenage years, lol...
@@douglasjackson5007 That's a good question. Probably because Lake Geneva was just a straight shot up US-12 from a friends house in the NW suburbs. (Though I do remember getting off the exit by that cheese place off I-94 a few times.)
We even did Milwaukee a couple of times. I remember going to The Spy's Demise, and eating in places like Germantown (probably not called that). No idea why we didn't hit Kenosha or Racine...
I used to drive a taxi in the city, I loved using lower Wacker dr, I’ll drive along n saying to myself, so long suckers. Lower lower Wacker dr was definitely a trip, I’ve witnessed a couple of drag races n back in the day the mafia loved using lower lower Wacker dr to leave abandon cars with a smelly surprise in the trunk if u know what I mean.
Taxi rides on lower Wacker doing 50+ were always so much fun!
Yep especially when u know street level is gridlocked and people are stuck in traffic
Yeah, I learned of lower lower Wacker when a Vespa I was riding got towed down there back in '99 I think it was. My friend and I tried to find it, but he had to get to work and we ran out of time. I got a cab and the driver told me there's no way we would have found it on my own. As he drove me down there, I couldn't believe the sharp 180 degree turns this dude had to make. Once I finally made it down there and found the place, things only got worse. Thanks Chicago!
YES!!...THE SEARS TOWER!! We don't even know what or whom "Willis" is or what he was talking about!
I love navigating through LW and LLW. Especially with out or of towners. They always tense up and start looking around like they seen a UFO
I’m going to do a dedicated Sears Tower episode in early Jan.
The willis tower is named after bruce willis who had a very succesful career starring in the die hard movies and all 5 seasons of babylon 5
@@DavidS22003 lol what you talking bout Willis?!
lol exactly
Without the Plan of Chicago, we never would've had that awesome chase scene in The Dark Knight so thank you early 20th century business men.
I’m a Michigan suburbanite who’s been living in Streeterville for the last 4 months on a work assignment. Because driving in Chicago can be challenging, I’ve been calling Wacker Drive & all it’s names “whacked”. Now I have a better appreciation for it’s purpose. Thank You. Subscribed!
333 Wacker - the curved green glass building... viewable from the Merchandise Mart. Stunning.
I had the misfortune of hands-on learning these 3 levels on my own last night as I was delivering an order on ubereats and Michigan avenue was closed off cause of the city’s winter parade.
Thing is, I’ve lived in Chicago for most of my life and I actively try to avoid the lower levels (never even knew about the sub level til last night) cause the GPS always bugs out 🙃 lol
Anyways, I just found the timing of this video being uploaded very funny, but also the video itself was very interesting:)
Lol, I worked at northwestern and lived in the burbs, got tangled up under there a few times, and was glad when I saw sun light….and the folks use to it down there do not play…..better keep up or get out the way. Whew!🤣
Same thing happened to me also Uber Eats except 1 month before you. Google kept sending underground then spun in circles when i got down there
The cool thing is you could of gone to lower Michigan Avenue and entered the building from the lower level or went up the stairs to the upper level to do your delivery. So you can still access streets regardless if they close them bcs of the lower levels
That f-ing winter parade. My wife always had a conference at a hotel off Michigan, and it was such a pain to pick her up
I was gonna put something but I forgot what
Finding a particular parking garage in that part of downtown is really tough. You lose the GPS signal, so if you get lost, you are screwed.
10:30 Haha do you mean Ogilvie Transportation Center?? It’s said OH-gull-vee 🤣 and the caption says “augieville” which doesn’t exist. Great video tho, I’ve passed up and down Wacker drive a billion times and never knew the history of it! So cool to learn about my own city
Glad I'm not the only one to notice
He's from the US, so you have to bear in mind that English isn't his first language.
Governor Richard Ogilvie would be spinning in his grave if he heard the transportation center named in his memory called Auggie-ville. I still call the building the Chicago & North Western train station.
Oggy Ville!
Hey! Augie might be the last governor of Illinois that didn't receive a prison sentence!
Lol...
I use lower Wacker drive very often. I used it today as well coming back form the city. Even during rush hour the traffic on lower Wacker is minimal and like you said it's confusing for some people or intimidating but for me I just know that i usually enter on lower lake shore drive. And exit on Ida B Wells drive turning into 290 with options for I-90 as well.
it ain't forgotten. It's scary down there and not talking civilians. I'm talking about the mini autobahn.
Supposedly in the 50s Wacker Drive was planned to be a part of the Cook County Expressway system which was the precursor if the 1956 Eisenhower Interstate Highway Act. Which is why the road ends abruptly on Harrison. Old plan maps had the Chinatown Feeder then called the Franklin St. Expressway to continue north to Harrison and be one with Wacker Dr. And have a spur north to the Ohio Street Feeder which that too was planned to connect to LSD.
Honestly, this third level could be turned into a Transitway for BRT and/or LRT.
I live right by Dearborn Station. You should do a show on it. The Tower is off limits but if you can get in it's friggin amazing. Fire wescapes up several stories to an upper level with a little work house. An ex GF charmed the maintenance guy to show us back in 2016.
When I was 19, I started working for a construction company on the west side. Most mornings I would have to go to lower wacker and the lesser known lower lasalle "garage" and deliver electrical supplies. Navigating down there was an absolute nightmare for the first few months of the job. Up until maybe a year ago, GPS navigation down there was basically unusable so you just had to figure it out the old fashioned way.
yep
This project is so very Chicago! It's a city of solutions, like the river that is pushed to flow backwards for flood control. My parents lived in the north end of the city for several years, and my visits to them always included visits to downtown where I got easily overwhelmed. I had never heard of Lower Lower Wacker before this. Thanks for sharing!
The river flowing backwards was done so they could dump sewage into it - they’re still working on flood control but several phases are online - look up the “deep tunnel” project. eventually Chicago will stop having to dump raw sewage into the lake every time they get heavy rains. But until this point it’s still cheaper for them to simply pay EPA fines to do that. I believe those fines are actually in the city budget. There’s an entire flag system at the beaches that tell you when the bacteria level is “safe” for swimmers,but the problem is is that the lab results from those tests are usually 24 hours old. So a red flag means you should not have been swimming yesterday. It all makes perfect sense, right?
Don't forget our drinking water comes from the lake and like 90% of the worlds purified water hahahaha. Chicago water intake is pretty far out there tho. It's treated or purified too I wouldn't be too worried but like you said makes sense right.
Years ago we used to call it Emerald City because of the green tint of the lighting. And why didn't you mention the businesses located on the lower level. If I'm not mistaken, the Olympia Restaurant in the classic Belushi/Akroid SNL skits was modeled after one of those restaurants - an homage to their Second City days.
Yeah, there's lots more to explore. This barely touched the surface. The maze of levels in River North where the freight rails used to run are pretty interesting.
I remember the green tint of the lights. They got rid of them and it was sad.
I think the Olympia is still there but the snl skit was based on billy goats
The cheeseburger skit on SNL was based on The Billy Goat Tavern, located under the Wrigley Building on Lower Wacker Dr. It is a charming throwback. "... chips, no fries. Coke, no Pepsi..." lols.
@@lcpltylerhanyzewski I forgot the name of Billy Goats. Thanks.
@@wills2140 Yes. The Billy Goat. Thanks for the reminder.
I grew up in western Illinois, along the Mississippi River, so trips to Chicago were rare as it was about a 3 hour drive to get there. But I always found the tunnel streets fascinating! I wanted to explore them so badly, but I've still only ever seen photos and videos.
Thank you for sharing this fascinating but of history!
Between 2000-2013 i probably took 1000s of night trips through those tunnels. Raced dozens if not hundreds of ppl. And this was all before paul walker died. The year he did the following months were absolutely crazy
The wild "garlic" is actually a plant called the Ramp. It grows in mid spring-ish time and can be found if you look for the two big green leaves that stick out of the ground. The closest they grow to the city is in the forest preserves in the suburbs. Although they are hard to find in large quantities and most people don't like to share the locations they do.
There are a few spots in the city, though those spots are guarded even more closely!
My friend just foraged some from the Indiana Dunes. And I tried some. And it indeed was a solid alternative to garlic/green onion tastes! I was so confused when he first said he was bringing over "ramps" lol
I’ve learned how to find it. It’s actually pretty easy as it’s usually the first green you can see on the forest floors in the spring. Cut off the leaves, don’t dig it up. I’ve read the natives called it “shikakwa”
I used to love riding through lower Wacker as a kid and then would drive it myself as soon as I got my license. I remember trying to impress some girls by taking them on a tour and taking the curves kinda fast, when the power steering belt on my moms minivan went!
Wacker drive is the only street in Chicago that legally goes north south, east west! Mind blowing! I mastered that road and all of it's levels way back when I drove a cab, passengers paid good tips if I took it specially going to the river east condos. I hoped you would also mention the secret entrance in the 3rd level of Wacker drive just below the AON building that took you one straight shot to Mccormick place, it's not open to public though and used for top officials transport routes and other times used by the conventions busses at Mccormick! Great video and excellent channel!
The smell was onions, not garlic.
I lived in Chicago for about 25 years , Wacker is so confusing. It has a north south east west upper and lower.
First, Lower Wacker Drive is forgotten for a reason. Shyt is a maze. Batman can keep them tunnels....Second, I will never call the Sears Tower anything other than the Sears Tower! Good vid
hahaha wacker is cool once you figure it out
lower lower wacker was the top level in a street racing video game back in the early 90s. It was fun to drive for real as long as you didn't get stuck in the middle of 2 guys racing. Those support poles pop up out of nowhere.
Gotham Racing, I think. A Microsoft racing game?
That street/road is traveled quite heavily and is in no way forgotten
As a union carpenter working in Chicago the worst is when the building your working in has the dock on lower wacker drive. Always confusing. But lots of free parking if you know some of the alleys on lower wacker
ahh good ol' lower lower Wacker drive had a buddies dad take us down there to skate and drive around in the early 2000's
It's unfortunate that this wasn't reviewed by somebody who lives in Chicago. That the Ogilvie Transportation Center was called Augieville is just the most glaring for the many many mistakes in this piece.
I had to rewind and go back when I heard it. Surely it didn't get that butchered... Oh yeah, Augieville 🤣
Yeah he smoked that one lol
That woke me up too. Reading the comments I thought I was the only one to hear it. So glad I wasn't.
Same, also Kinzie sounded weird to my ear
...like fingernails on a chalkboard...
Not known? Ever see The Blues Brothers?
Probably the most famous (maybe the only?) movie to be featured on Lower Wacker.
It's a great connector between Lake Shore Drive and the Eisenhower Expressway. Used to take it all the time...
As soon as the intro played I immediately thought of the movie too!
Comments like yours helped remind me of those scenes in 'The Blues Btothes', thank you.
(:
p. s. The video mentions it was featured in 'The Dark Knight'. I think it was also shown in a couple of crime thrillers in the 1970's / 1980's and maybe 'Adventures In Babysitting' iirc.
@@wills2140 Could be, I haven't kept up with Lower Wacker movies, lol. (Though I do recall Dark Knight really screwed things up down there. Lower Wacker is a major artery during rush hour, and if anything stops it up, it's a major problem.)
But the Blues Brothers was the first movie filmed in Chicago after old man Daley died, and for Elwood to specifically point out they were on Lower Wacker was something new in my life, lol.
John Landis really did Chicago right...
The east end of the 3 level where it ends is my favorite view of the city.
If you ever feel the desire to do the history of the once boom towns surrounding Chicago like Dekalb or Kankakee I’d be endlessly interested.
He would, but can't figure out how to say them...
Every movie filmed in Chicago always works in some scenes with Lower Wacker Dr.
All three Dark Knight films, Code Of Silence, Above The Law...
The list goes on.
Minor nitpick, but the Ogilvie is pronounce oh-gill-vee, not oggie-ville
Yeah... Sears Tower ftw!
2 seconds later..
The oggy-ville transportation building
My brain said, "SCREEEECH, SMASH !!!"
Awesome video! I grew up in Chicago, and family members have told me about lower lower Wacker but I have never been there myself. I was always told that homeless and drug addicts will rob you down there which is why we never used the road.
When I was 19/20 I had a job where I delivered tools and materials to service construction sites around the city and would often have to go to loading docks and get around the city using wacker.
I go to Chicago for St. Patrick's day celebrating and I always use the lower levels for walking. You can skip all the crowds, most of the stop lights and get places at least 70% faster... You just have to be a little careful of the would be muggers.
The would be muggers are on all levels.
I do Uber Eats every day. I frequently use Lower Wacker, lower Michigan and Lower Columbus. I've never been mugged in the years driving down there
@@justdrive5327 I'm usually walking it and the hours I use it are typically in the evening. So your mileage may vary ;)
Wacker was a person? Thank You for giving me a history lesson. Pretty cool video. I’ve been thru Wacker. Worked nights when filming was going on, pretty crazy place.
Thank you for telling me that wacker drive was named after a person , i thought it had something to do with sex and masterbation
Also nearby is the shuttle bus road that goes to McCormick Place. From the Tribune: "The 2.5-mile street, a shuttle buses-only express route that runs from Randolph Street to 25th Street at King Drive, was built alongside the Metra Electric/Illinois Central Railroad tracks east of Michigan Avenue. It runs underneath Millennium Park and the Art Institute en route to the exhibition hall."
YES, you are correct! 💯 I discovered this road by accident one day last month. I got to 25th Street right behind the McCormick Place and hit a dead end gated opening to King Drive. You had to have a key card or code to exit that gate. As I was turning around to make my journey back to where I started, a charter bus rolled up and opened the gate. I felt like I was rescued. 😂 I spun around quickly and followed the bus through the gate. He didn't even care that I was behind him. Probably knew I was lost and terrified. 😱 Serves me right. I did happen to see signs that said that it was a private roadway owned by Metra Railroad but I was so curious that I kept going anyway. I just had to know what was so private about it. 🙈 I won't be doing that again, but it made me feel good knowing that I discovered something cool about my beloved city, which is my hometown. I was born and raised here. ❤️ 🌃
I've ridden a bike on the busway, it's part of the Chicago Triathlon along with a lap on Lower Wacker. One of the more unique bike courses I've ridden.
Yes, the McCormick Busway can be accessed from lower Columbus heading south just after crossing Lower Wacker. There’s a ramp that takes you to Lower Lower Wacker. You turn right, then left. There’s a guard house but the gate is often open and just act like you always drive there. If they ask, say you’re unloading at the art institute modern wing. 😅 If you follow that route it’ll dump you out near the 18th St. exit on Lakeshore Drive by McCormick Place.
I’ve been escorted off that road once.
Chicago native here, and with the work I do, I know of and have been in this lower-lower Wacker area to take measurements as well as the freight tunnels you mentioned that flooded in the early 90s. This city has layers... like an ogre... or an onion.
I used to work with a group doing outreach to homeless around the country and spent a very memorable night staffing a mobile soup kitchen on the third level.
You didn't tell them that before the yellow lighting the original color was emerald green. Which looked so cool I remember as a child love going through there with the green hue everywhere.
Thank you for a good video.
Wasn't all of the town at one point raised up to install a sewer system that didn't drain into the lake which was also their source of water?
So they made a new one that flowed into a river they reversed to send their waste down to the Mississippi (hopefully after treating it).
Sewers were built ground level and streets built over due to the swampy already water logged ground. Many large building were literally jacked up as foundations sinked into the ground. And yes eventually the flow of the Chicago River was reversed to go downstream to the Mississippi instead of out to Lake Michigan.
Some old buildings in Bridgeport and Pilsen are still below the street level. So the stair on ground level either go up to the second floor or straight to the second floor. First floor is below the street. In other words the orginal homeowners didn't want their buildings raised
The entire downtown area of Chicago was raised in the mid-1800's, but not to stop sewage from running into the lake, but to actually install a sewer system. All sewage was pretty much just dumped into the street before that.
It made Chicago the first major metro area that had a sewer system.
It was that sewer system that dumped the waste into the lake, causing massive pollution and drinking water problems. In the late 1800's the Chicago River was blocked off, reversed and sewage dumped down to the Mississippi River.
The first water treatment plant didn't start operating in the Chicago area until the early 1920's.
@@justdrive5327 Many of the buildings in Chinatown are like that. Confused me until I learned why, lol...
I worked on the Wacker Drive viaduct in 2012. This City is interesting in its layers downtown. They have structures there unrecorded, and crypts. Also, the Marina under Marina Towers was a cool place to hang. There are even train tracks long abandoned.
For some reason as a little kid i loved lower wacker drive. My mom used to take us on “get lost” rides and would go down there and drive around. Always remember my mom having to ask the construction guys how to get out, dont know why i was so amused by it.
10:30 "oggieVille" ???
Ogilvie is a transportation center
@@dabearsfan4life And "Augieville" is an abomination.
@@dabearsfan4life, yes, and it replaced the Chicago & Northwestern Terminal, a.k.a., Northwestern Station), but not (directly) the Wells Street Station. The Wells Street Station was replaced by Northwestern Station some 73 years prior.
The Proper People should check this place out.
I remembered back in the 80's/90's during the hight of the House Music craze, the was a club..... actually a juice bar called the Underground. I used to frequent it quite often. The memories of partying!
In the early 90's, I used to work dock security at 225 N. Michigan. That's when I first discovered a completely different world below street level. It always fascinated me down there.
I'm a little surprised that you didn't mention Lower Wackers cameo in the Blues Brothers, but it definitely is an interesting feat of road engineering.
He did @ 8:50
We would drive in from the west suburbs in the early '80 and as Captain Kirk would have said, do a little LDS and wander around the lower lower. Very trippy.
As a kid I used to go skateboarding on Wacker & sub-Wacker Drive. The thing I remember most is the echos & the DUST. The whole place is like living in the tiny gap beneath your fridge and kitchen floor. All the garbage and dirt gets in and just stays there
As a life long Chicagoan who loves driving on Lower Wacker, I’ve never known about the even lower level. Looks like I’ve got somewhere to go tomorrow. Thanks for this.
It's where most of the loading docks are located for the buildings, if your a delivery driver, or a outside worker doing work in the building, it's where you have to go to check in, enter the building and park.
Lower wacker drive is one of the scariest roads I’ve driven with you thinking you’re hitting every post or hit by another car
It was even more fun before it was rebuilt when you had to dodge the pillars that came part way into the second traffic lane.
used to drive it quite recklessly in my younger days......
Its in your mind. Theres plenty of room
Entertaining Brief on 'The History of Wacker Drive'.
It would take about 3 hours or more to cover it completely in detail...
There are hidden locations that absolutely no one has access to down there... Call One of them, 'Chicago Fire Time Capsule' Sealed off from public viewing... It's the stuff of nightmares.
I'm so interested to hear more about this!
Tell me more
i'd like to hear more abnout that as well
The ultimate irony is watching this vid an hour or so after using wacker on the way to work this morning. I can look out the window and see all three levels to my south.
Bro I grew up in Chicago and had no idea there was a 3rd level. Thank you for sharing this.
After 2 great videos and respect for the history instant follow and we don’t follow hardly anyone.
Any time!
Most suburbanites are well aware of Wacker Drive!
Yes, but they also think Portillos serves tasty Chicago-style food, so their common sense is still in doubt.
Lower Wacker is like going thur a maze
I've delivered to everyone of those loading docks on Lower Wacker and lower lower Wacker and I still do nowadays.
Ahhh yes lower wacker on Friday&Saturday nights in 2015-2018 where the best times. Car meets every week ahhh such nostalgia
Back in the 90’s I was a freight delivery driver and made frequent visits to every level of Lower Wacker to make deliveries. If you think driving a car down there is a task, try driving a box truck. Not to mention having to back into and out of some of the areas where the above skyscrapers have their loading docks. I’ve heard rumors that if you leave a vehicle unlocked down there for too long, a homeless person might use it as their own personal outhouse.
& the cop on the Harley Davidson Cervicar (3 wheeler) that would parking ticket your truck while delivering! He used to hang out at a building my brother worked at (I forgot which one) and I used to deliver to the building. I was SO tempted to do something nasty to his sickle when he left it parked down there- glad I didn't, though.
You forgot to mention that Lower Wacker Drive also gives us locals the chance for our google and Apple Maps more of a chance to give us directions that try to throw us into the lake 😂
For all Tourists coming here to chicago in the future, if you find yourself down in the Lower Tunnels, your gps will loose connection so please be prepared, there are Speed Cameras hidden in the tunnels & above the tunnels and sometimes they will ticket you if you go 5 over the speed limit.
Ryan your Chicago videos are my favorite way to spend a lazy afternoon! Thank you!
I nearly had a panic attack when a parade blocked my route to the PPV viewing I was heading to yesterday. I'm lucky I found the stairs to Lower Wacker which helped me bypass the enormous crowd.
I've been there. I attended a convention and while there I went for a wander. The story possibilities are _epic_!
Great job with the video! Thank you
Thank you too!
I was just driving Lower Wacker Drive yesterday. I use it to bypass downtown traffic between Lake Shore Drive and the Expressway. Especially the Eisenhower.
west side the best side baby
I remember the S curves and LSD being East of Soldier Field. THose were feats of engineering to accomplish
Wait reading back what you are saying…. They moved LSD around soldier field to where it is now? That’s pretty awesome. I need to watch a video on that now!
Exiting the planetarium was always exciting🤣
See Code of Silence (Chuck Norris) for chase in Lower Wacker.
Running Scared (Billy Crystal,, Gregory Hines) 1986? ...final scene takes place in Thompson State of Illinois Center which is close to Wacker Drive. Somebody help me out with this. The building had just been completed.
"And you will see this guy, who decided to strike a pose for Google". Lol
Most people learned about the lowest level Wacker Service road is because their car got tolled and impounded and has to pick it up there. Even for local taxi drivers, most of them do not know how to navigate the maze down there.
When I was a Sophmore in HS my friend used to steal his parents car and we would underage drive down Lower Wcker as fast as that Caprice would go..looking back we did some crazy stuff and probably still lucky to be around lol. Fun story tho is there is/was a police station down there and I saw the biggest rat ever it was the size of a medium sized Racoon this was back in the mid 80s
Those rats have grown up to “run” the city as politicians.
Please research Established Titles prior to sending them money.
girllllllll