Jane Byrne Interchange

The Jane Byrne Interchange, formerly known as the Circle Interchange, serves as the central hub of Chicago’s expressway system, linking the Kennedy, Dan Ryan, and Eisenhower Expressways (I-90/94 and I-290). Designed in 1958, the interchange was never intended to handle today’s traffic volumes, which exceed 400,000 vehicles per day, including a 25% share of trucks. By 2012, the interchange was ranked as the #1 freight bottleneck in the U.S. by the American Transportation Research Institute and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), creating significant delays, congestion, and environmental concerns.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) sought a transformative solution that would modernize the interchange to improve mobility, safety, and capacity while also reconnecting the surrounding neighborhoods, including Greektown, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), and local residential and commercial districts. Given the tight urban footprint and complex network of expressways, transit tunnels, and utilities, the project required a forward-thinking, space-efficient approach that would minimize disruption while delivering long-term benefits.

As part of a joint venture team, our firm provided planning, design, and construction engineering services to reconstruct the Jane Byrne Interchange. The project involved rebuilding 19 bridges, including seven curved steel girder ramp bridges and two tri-level flyovers, and constructing nearly 50 retaining walls and over 32 miles of new expressway lanes—all within the constraints of the existing interchange footprint.

To address the interchange’s congestion challenges, the design incorporated:

• Tri-level flyover ramps to separate high-volume traffic movements, reducing weaving conflicts.
• Two-lane ramps for the heaviest traffic flows, improving throughput and safety.
• Collector-distributor roads to optimize merging and minimize bottlenecks.
• A new Peoria Street Bridge featuring Illinois’ first precast deck panels with Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) joints for durability and longevity.

Sustainability and resilience were key priorities. The project introduced an underground 4.7-acre-foot stormwater detention tank to reduce expressway flooding, a feature never before implemented by IDOT. Additionally, the team used innovative bulkheading techniques to inspect and repurpose 13-foot-diameter water tunnels beneath the interchange safely.

Beyond improving mobility, the project aimed to reconnect and enhance the surrounding neighborhoods. The Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) process involved over 50 stakeholder meetings, resulting in community-driven improvements such as:

• Wider sidewalks and new pedestrian signals on Halsted Street to enhance walkability.
• On-street bike lanes, promoting multimodal connectivity.
• A new ADA-accessible CTA station at Peoria Street, ensuring transit equity.
• Expanded green spaces and landscaping, including enhancing Greektown’s Elysian Field.
• Aesthetic enhancements for bridges and retaining walls that improve the area’s visual character.