Concrete falls in a pedestrian tunnel under DuSable Lake Shore Drive again, this time at Addison Street
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Heavy chunks of concrete have fallen from the roof of a pedestrian tunnel under DuSable Lake Shore Drive again.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported, this was the second time the safety of a tunnel where people walk under the Drive has been called into question. This time, the tunnel in question is the between Addison Street and Waveland Avenue at the east edge of Lakeview.
The tunnel remained open Monday night. But a chunk of concrete on the ceiling was missing, while a grille of rebar was exposed.
The pedestrian tunnel off Addison Street is a frequent path for Gianna and her friends.
"We saw it on ground yesterday, actually, and we were actually a little bit concerned about that," Gianna said.
What she saw was huge chunks of concrete - heavy pieces that fell from above. Orange cones were set up around the fallen chunks.
And 24 hours later, even more concrete had come down. A large section of the ceiling was missing, and that steel wire was showing.
Terry: "Are you left wondering what they're doing, or what?"
Gianna: "I'm just assuming they're not doing much about it."
And others who use the tunnel are wondering the same thing.
"It doesn't look good," one man said.
Back in January, another pedestrian tunnel about six city blocks to the north at Buena Avenue raised the same concerns after chunks of concrete also fell. The Chicago Department of Transportation initially said the tunnel was safe, but three weeks after our report, the city came back and boarded up the Buena Avenue tunnel.
Yet people keep walking under the Addison Street tunnel – leaving many to question what the difference is.
"I'm not sure," Gianna said. "I'm assuming it's pretty much the same situation, so it probably shouldn't be open."
"The problem we have so many aged bridges, right?" said Didem Ozevin, a civil and materials engineer at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "So they need to prioritize."
Yes Ozevin says the city is required to inspect such tunnels ever two years.
"Some more frequent based on the age," she said.
It is not clear when the Addison Street tunnel under DuSable Lake Shore Drive was last inspected. But Ozevin said the rusty steel can't stay exposed to the elements for long or else bigger problems will result.
For the short term, Ozevin believes the Addison Street tunnel is safe – but with a qualification.
"As a pedestrian going under this bridge, I will probably go to the side to pass," she said.
But it is hard to walk to the side in the tunnel, because the exposed wires are so massive over the entire surface area of the ceiling.
No one was injured when the concrete chunks fell down.
CBS 2's Terry did reach out to CDOT to find out what the next step with the tunnel might be. They did not get back to us Monday night.
