Photomap

Cherry Avenue bridge is open

Location: Noble Square, Chicago (Illinois, United States)

This bridge is for pedestrians, bicyclists, and trains only. The tracks have a unique treatment that allows bicyclists to ride on top of the rails and maneuver across them at any angle.

The decking here is made by HiRail, a company in Iowa which uses recycled rubber tires to create the smooth, long lasting surface. In between the rails and the decking is malleable rubber which a train will crush. Once the train passes, the rubber will arise to its normal position.

For more information on rubber filled flangeways, see the graphic and description on this website (www.tpub.com/content/armytransportation/TI-850-02/TI-850-020102.htm). It doesn't display the exact cross section for the installation on Cherry Avenue, but should help you understand how it works.

More information on how the City acquired the bridge is available in the Surface Transportation Board dockets bit.ly/HdDISP (PDF).

According to the Wikipedia article about the Cherry Avenue Bridge, Rausch Construction was responsible for the surface decking and treatment, and overall renovation.

The Chicago Department of Transportation has produced this flyer egov.cityofchicago.org/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_EDITORIAL/CherryAvenueBridge.pdf for the project.