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Randolph Street is a street in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
. It runs east–west through the Chicago Loop, carrying westbound traffic west from Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River on the Randolph Street Bridge, interchanging with the Kennedy Expressway ( I-90/ I-94), and continuing west. It serves as the northern boundary of Grant Park and the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. Several large theaters, as well as city and state government buildings are on and adjacent to Randolph.
Metra Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines ...
's
Millennium Station Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Terminal; sometimes called Randolph Street station or Randolph/South Water Street station) is a major commuter rail terminal in the Loop (downtown), Chicago. It is the northern terminus of the Metr ...
is located under Randolph Street.


History

Randolph Street was named for
Randolph County, Illinois Randolph County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 30,163. Its county seat is Chester. Owing to its role in the state's history, the county motto is "Where Illinois Began. ...
, in turn named after Edmund Randolph (1753–1813), Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State, and the first United States Attorney General. The street was part of the original plat of Chicago in the 1830s, originally ending at Michigan Avenue. In the 1850s and 1860s, gambling was a favorite pastime at the saloons on Randolph, and there were so many gunfights in the vicinity that downtown Randolph Street became known as "Hairtrigger Block."Donald L. Miller, ''City of the Century,'' Simon and Schuster, New York, 1996. p. 137 In 1937, in conjunction with the building of Lake Shore Drive, a double-decker viaduct was built over the
Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line al ...
's
rail yard A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or ...
, connecting Michigan to Lake Shore (which was where Field Boulevard is now). This viaduct still exists west of Columbus Drive as the upper level; it intersected LSD (Field) at the current upper level. The lower level of the viaduct was never used. In 1963 the upper level was built east of Field to serve the new Outer Drive East building. Between 1970 and 1980, the viaduct was demolished east of Columbus; this probably happened after the extension of
Wacker Drive Wacker Drive is a major multilevel street in Chicago, Illinois, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River in the Loop.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee, ''Streetwise Chicago'', "Wacke ...
to Lake Shore opened in December 1975. By 1988 the new Randolph had been completed, including a new upper level west of Columbus. East of Columbus, this level was built to slope down to the old upper level, which was orphaned by the move of Lake Shore Drive in 1986. The old viaduct was kept west of Columbus, and it slopes down to a middle level east towards the new Lake Shore Drive.


East Randolph

East of Michigan Avenue, Randolph Street is a two-way street taking traffic to Lake Shore Drive. Just east of Michigan, Randolph crosses over the Metra Electric/
South Shore Line The South Shore Line is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend International Airport ...
and splits into two levels, an upper level (via the outer lanes) and a middle level (via the inner lanes). The upper level carries local traffic to the
Illinois Center Illinois Center is a mixed-use urban development in downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA, lying east of Michigan Avenue. It is notable in that the streets running through it have three levels. Elsewhere in Chicago, some streets have two levels, ...
, Aon Center and Prudential Plaza developments, and was built in conjunction with them; it also takes traffic to the new
Lakeshore East Lakeshore East is a master-planned mixed use urban development being built by the Magellan Development Group in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located in the northeastern part of the Loop, w ...
development. Intersections with the upper level are provided with Stetson Avenue (which only heads north, and only intersects westbound Randolph) and Columbus Drive (which only heads north). The middle level, which takes traffic to Lake Shore Drive, intersects the middle level of Columbus. A lower level also exists between Stetson and Columbus, intersecting lower Columbus (and ramps to middle Columbus). The middle level East of Columbus Drive is known as Randolph Drive. East of Columbus, Randolph continues as a triple-decker street. The lower level intersects with a short piece of Field Boulevard; at that point, the upper level narrows to lie only over the north side of the middle level. Field Boulevard was the original Lake Shore Drive, and crossed the upper level of Randolph (which was the only level at the time). Old Lake Shore Drive (Field Boulevard) south of Randolph is now the Cancer Survivors Plaza; north of Randolph it was a viaduct at the level of current Upper Randolph and has been demolished. A new Upper Field Boulevard was recently built as part of the
Lakeshore East Lakeshore East is a master-planned mixed use urban development being built by the Magellan Development Group in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located in the northeastern part of the Loop, w ...
development; it ramps down to ground (lower) level. After Field Boulevard, the narrowed upper level and service level continue east to the double-decker Harbor Drive, where they end. Harbor Drive provides access to several buildings and then itself dead ends. The middle level then continues east to an interchange with Lake Shore Drive and a dead end just beyond.


Buildings

Buildings on Randolph include the followin

* City View Tower (720-726W) * Randolph Place Lofts (~485W) * Boeing International Headquarters (~450W) * Franklin and Randolph Office Building (~250W) *
Randolph Tower Randolph Tower, formerly known as the Steuben Club Building, is a historic Gothic Revival skyscraper in Downtown Chicago. The building was constructed in 1929 and designed by architect Karl M. Vitzthum, who designed another Chicago landmark, the ...
(188W) * Hotel Allegro (171W) * Cadillac Palace Theatre (151W) * Michael A. Bilandic Building (~150W) * Chicago Title and Trust Center (~80W) * James R. Thompson Center (100W) * Richard J. Daley Center (55W) * Nederlander Theatre (24-32W) *
Joffrey Tower The Joffrey Tower is a high-rise commercial real estate development on the northeast corner of North State Street and East Randolph Street in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States that is the permanent hom ...
(8E) * FYE Superstore (formally
Coconuts The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or t ...
) (26E) * The Heritage at Millennium Park (~50E) *
Smurfit-Stone Building The Crain Communications Building is a 39-story, 582 foot (177 m) skyscraper located at 150 North Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It was also known as the Smurfit–Stone Building and the Stone Container Building. While the bui ...
(~90E) * Millennium Park Plaza (~100E) *
One Prudential Plaza One Prudential Plaza (formerly known as the Prudential Building) is a 41-story structure in Chicago completed in 1955 as the headquarters for Prudential's Mid-America company. It was the first skyscraper built in Chicago since the Great Dep ...
(130E) *
Two Prudential Plaza The Two Prudential Plaza is a 64-story skyscraper located in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. At tall, it is currently the sixth-tallest building in Chicago and the 28th-tallest in the U.S., being only five feet from 1,000 feet, making ...
and
Millennium Station Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Terminal; sometimes called Randolph Street station or Randolph/South Water Street station) is a major commuter rail terminal in the Loop (downtown), Chicago. It is the northern terminus of the Metr ...
(~150E) * Aon Center (200E) * Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance (205E) *
McDonald's Cycle Center McDonald's Cycle Center (formerly Millennium Park Bike Station) is an indoor bike station in the northeast corner of Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city of Chicago built the center at ...
(239E) * Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower (300E) * Daley Bicentennial Plaza (337E) *
340 on the Park 340 on the Park is a residential tower in the Lakeshore East development of the neighborhood of New Eastside/ East Loop Chicago and was completed in 2007. The building briefly surpassed 55 East Erie as the tallest all-residential building i ...
(340E) * The Buckingham (360E) * Outer Drive East (400E) * Harbor Point (155 N Harbor Dr.)


See also

* Multilevel streets in Chicago
E Randolph St.
* Randolph Street Market


References

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