Chicago Skyway

Chicago Skyway

The Chicago Skyway was originally known as the Calumet Skyway before 1960. It cost $101 million (equivalent to $840 million in 2024) to construct and took about 34 months (nearly three years) to build. Nearly eight miles (13 km) of elevated roadway, the Chicago Skyway was originally built as a shortcut for cars from State Street, a major north–south street on Chicago's South Side that serves the Loop, to the steel mills on the Southeast to the Indiana state line where the Indiana Toll Road begins. Later, when the Dan Ryan Expressway opened, the Chicago Skyway was extended west to connect to it. There are only two eastbound exits east of the toll barrier, whereas there are four westbound exits west of the toll barrier (so that no exits are available until one has crossed the bridge and paid the toll). The Chicago Skyway opened to traffic on April 16, 1958.