Webcam helps motorists keep an eye on Circle Interchange project

The Morgan Street bridge reconstruction, seen from the UIC webcam.

Internet users can view the ongoing reconstruction of Chicago’s Circle Interchange through a 24-hour live video feed from a digital video camera mounted atop University Hall.

The live transmission is hosted by the Urban Transportation Center in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.

The camera shows redevelopment work at the Morgan Street Bridge, the first phase of the reconstruction. It will be aimed at other parts of the Circle Interchange as the reconstruction continues.

“The Circle Interchange is the slowest, most congested highway freight bottleneck in the nation, with more than 300,000 vehicles traveling through it daily.  It hasn’t had a major rehabilitation since it was built 50 years ago, and it needs to be expanded,” said Steve Schlickman, executive director of the center.

“The webcam will enable the public to monitor the process and understand the magnitude of this effort to preserve a critical link in the region’s transportation system.”

Scheduled to be completed over four years at a cost of $475 million, the Circle Interchange reconstruction includes the overhauling of the Morgan, Peoria, and Halsted Street bridges spanning the Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate 290), new highway ramps, new sound-abatement walls, and new landscaping.

The camera was installed in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Transportation, which is managing the reconstruction.