Slow, Hazardous Progress for Chicago's Navy Pier Flyover Project

John Hilkevitch begins an article about the development of Chicago's Lakefront trail with a provocative question:

"The original section of the Great Wall of China went up in about 20 years. The 110-story Sears Tower was erected in only three years. So how long does it take to build a roughly 2,700-foot-long pedestrian bridge in Chicago?"

The cause for the consternation at the heart of the article is the $60 million Navy Flier Flyover:

"When completed in 2018, the 16-foot-wide bridge will eliminate close encounters between vehicles and nonmotorized traffic by permanently rerouting one of the most heavily used sections of the lakefront trail away from the lower-level sidewalk along the Lake Shore Drive bridge near Lake Point Tower. Bikers, pedestrians and others will no longer cross Grand Avenue and Illinois Street at street level."

As Hilkevitch details the project, scheduled to be completed in three phases, and the safety concerns raised by users in its current state. Hilkevitch also answers the original question above: at least four years, if the target completion date is met after a January 2014 launch.