“Alderpeople are backing off a plan — for now — to remove the landmark status of the Cortland Street bridge after the city’s transportation department has pledged to complete ongoing maintenance on the structure by the end of 2028.
“The Cortland Street bridge over the Chicago River has been shut down since last September, when the Chicago Department of Transportation began a long-term rehabilitation project. It was delayed indefinitely this summer because of the discovery of new issues with the 124-year-old bridge.
“That sparked Streeterville and Lincoln Park Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) to introduce legislation this summer to remove the bridge’s city landmark status in an attempt to speed up the process to fix the bridge or replace it entirely. Alds. Scott Waguespack (32nd) and Timmy Knudsen (43rd) also co-sponsored the effort.
“But in a surprise move Tuesday at a hearing of the City Council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards, Hopkins deferred a vote on the landmark rescission after he said transportation commissioner William Cheaks assured him construction on the bridge will be completed by the end of 2028.
“The city’s transportation department previously said the removal of city landmark status would not be an immediate fix allowing construction on the bridge to proceed, in part due to ‘state and federal environmental and historic-preservation reviews’ — a process Hopkins referenced on Tuesday.
“‘We’re not giving up the idea that landmark designation could be and should be removed, but we don’t want to interfere with the sensitivity of this moment, where CDOT is completing their scope of work, dealing with federal agencies who may not be in favor of the action that we would take to remove the landmark designation,’ Hopkins said. ‘So we’re going to allow this process to play out.’
“Transportation department spokesperson Erica Schroeder confirmed on Tuesday that construction will recommence on the bridge by the end of the year.
“‘CDOT has developed an alternative rehabilitation approach that can be completed under the existing construction contract while maintaining the bridge’s historic character and addressing structural conditions identified during bridge assessments. We expect construction activity to begin by the end of this year and the work to take about two years,’ Schroeder said.
“Tuesday’s deferral comes as preservationists, cyclists and some neighbors have voiced their opposition to the removal of the bridge’s landmark status. Others have said they are strongly in favor if it means getting the bridge back open to vehicles faster.
“A building’s landmark status in Chicago has not been revoked by the City Council since the 1980s, when the McCarthy Building Downtown was torn down to make way for Block 37. That process sparked lawsuits and was described by Preservation Chicago executive director Ward Miller this summer as a ‘huge embarrassment.’
“‘This too could be a huge embarrassment,’ Miller told Block Club at the time. ‘Do we want to open the door to suddenly removing buildings or structures from landmarks? Which I think is a dangerous precedent and a place we don’t really want to go.’
“Some neighbors and groups this summer and fall have also pushed for both a new bridge to be built and the existing structure to be moved elsewhere, possibly as part of the planned extension of the 606’s Bloomingdale Trail.” (Myers, Block Club Chicago, 10/13/26)
“The Cortland Street Bridge over the Chicago River has sat closed to car traffic for a year now. Built in 1902, it’s one of the earliest surviving trunnion bascule bridges anywhere, a design Chicago engineers invented. It also carries the city’s landmark status.
“Two aldermen now want that status stripped, hoping to clear the path for a working bridge. Preservation groups are pushing back hard, Ward Miller of Preservation Chicago warning the move could trigger an ‘avalanche’ that undermines the landmarks ordinance.
“There’s a detail that gets glossed over: CDOT admits stripping the landmark status won’t speed anything up, since every bascule bridge already qualifies for federal historic recognition regardless of the city’s designation. The real holdup is a whole layer of review, not a single ordinance. With more than 300 bridges and viaducts to maintain, some overlap is unavoidable, but that doesn’t explain a year with no visible work.
“The preservationists aren’t wrong to worry. Landmarks Illinois makes the same point: Chicago’s bascule bridges are a genuine engineering export others borrowed. Let one landmark get de-designated for convenience and you’ve handed a template to every future alderman who wants to skip a review process for a building that matters. That’s a real risk, not a hypothetical one.
“Protecting the past and keeping a bridge working aren’t opposites. CDOT is rehabilitating the nearby Lake Street Bridge while preserving its look, proof both goals can coexist.
“What’s missing from Cortland isn’t history. It’s finishing the job. Drive by and you’ll find no cranes, no workers, no staged equipment. A year with nothing to show for it isn’t preservation. It’s delay in a historic costume.
“This debate reaches well past one bridge, and it comes down to the same test: A bridge earns its keep by being crossed, not admired from a distance. Chicago’s bridges may well be part of what makes the city itself, but the part worth keeping is what they do. A bridge that can no longer carry its purpose has already lost the thing that made it worth landmarking in the first place.” (Tozal, Crain’s Chicago Business, 9/21/26)
Preservation Chicago named Chicago River Bridges and Bridge Tender Houses to our 2026 Chicago 7 Most Endangered list in March 2026, and the Cortland Street Bridge is among the most significant of the bridges.
Preservation Chicago advocated to Alderpeople and City Council to reject this ordinance and asked CDOT to publish a schedule and scope of work. CDOT has now committed to an alternative rehabilitation approach that maintains the bridge’s historic character, to restarting construction by the end of this year, and to completing the work by the end of 2028.
While we appreciate this step, we request that CDOT accelerate the schedule even further. It is unacceptable that a year has passed with no active construction progress.
Preservation Chicago thanks Ald. Brian Hopkins for deferring the vote, and thanks Commissioner William Cheaks and CDOT for the commitment. The ordinance has been deferred, not withdrawn. Preservation Chicago continues to oppose the rescission of the Cortland Street Bridge’s Chicago Landmark designation, and we will monitor this process closely.
Read the full story at Block Club Chicago
- After City Pledges To Fix Cortland Bridge By 2028, Alders Defer Plan To Yank Its Landmark Status; The bridge connecting Lincoln Park and Bucktown has been closed to cars due to extensive maintenance issues. Ald. Brian Hopkins backed off a plan Tuesday to remove its landmark status after he said construction is moving forward, Quinn Myers, Block Club Chicago, 10/13/26
- Opinion: A historic bridge still has to be a bridge; A bridge earns its keep by being crossed, not admired from a distance, Yunus Emre Tozal, Crain’s Chicago Business, 9/21/26
- Cortland Bridge Will Remain Closed For Years, Vexing Neighbors After New Problems Found, Block Club Chicago, 8/24/26
- Lake Street Bascule Bridge Rehabilitation; Chicago Department of Transportation
- Chicago River Bridges and Bridge Tender Houses; a Preservation Chicago 2026 Chicago 7 Most Endangered, 3/4/26
- Cortland Street Drawbridge, A Chicago Landmark, www.ChicagoLandmarkReports.org
- WIN: Landmarked Cortland Street Bridge Restoration Begins; Preservation Chicago, 10/2025
- WIN: Historic Lake Street Bridge Begins Major Restoration Project; Preservation Chicago
- THREATENED: Historic Chicago Avenue Bridge Targeted for Demolition; Preservation Chicago