[jpIllInoIs]

So now we know how the long awaited Downtown circulator can get from Navy Pier to norther Grant Park and Columbus Drive.

Originally Posted by ardecila

It's in there. There is a lot of reference to providing adequate clearance at ground level for tracks to pass beneath the mezzanine on what is today the Spire site, but the Commercial Club's Harbor Plan also proposed a rail connection across the river from the Illinois Central to Navy Pier. You can see it dotted in some of the drawings as "Future Harbor Railroad Connection" (PDF page 81).

Looks like it would have run in the east section of the lower deck, with the west and central sections for "commercial traffic" - trucks, etc. It makes sense, why else divide the lower deck into 3 parts rather than two, like the Michigan Ave bridge? The drawings appear to show a single track connection, but it looks like there was room for two tracks should the need arise. I can't say whether the bridge as built could support railroad traffic, certainly the design evolved and they may have reduced the design loads. Ed Bennett's Neoclassical design became Art Deco, etc.