Chicago Pedway Proposal

The Chicago Pedway is an underground walkway originally created in 1951 to join the red and blue subway lines at Washington and Jackson Boulevard. Since then it has grown organically with both public and private initiatives.

The Pedway’s multiple owners individually control the hours of operation, which is tied to the building use above. This results in a disjointed and highly disorientating system. This and the many stakeholders are the main barriers to creating a coordinated solution. The challenge was framing the project to demonstrate that everyone would benefit from an improved Chicago Pedway.

The team proposed a number of discrete interventions to create the momentum for further funding. These were both above and below ground, to attract people to use the Pedway and then to help to orientate them once on it. This pilot study is yet to be implemented.