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Chicago is the birthplace of the skyscraper. The world’s first skyscraper, The Home Insurance Building, was built in the city, marking a turning point in Chicago’s urban history.
As more and more skyscrapers were built, and foot traffic increased in Chicago’s Central Business District, a new pedestrian way system was needed to help people navigate their way between buildings without having to cross the highly trafficked streets.
Enter the Chicago Pedestrian Walkway System, known as Pedway for short, is a system of underground tunnels, ground-level concourses, overhead bridges, and hallways, connect some of the most famous commercial buildings, malls and metro stations in the city.
In this guide, we share what there is to see and do along the Chicago Pedway system, a staple piece of engineering and important part of Chicago’s architectural heritage.
What is the Chicago Pedway?
Essentially, the Pedway, short for Pedestrian Way, is a series of connecting passages in Chicago’s downtown that allow you to transverse from one building to the next without stepping outside.
The system was opened to the public in 1951, with the last piece of the Pedway to be completed being the tunnel between the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway and the State Street Subway, which is where the Red Line and Blue Lines meet.
About 40 city blocks long, the passages zigzag through around 50 buildings throughout the Loop.
Many Chicagoans are unaware of the Pedway. Since parts of the passages cut through the lobbies of buildings, people step in and out of the Pedway each day being completely unaware they are entering a segment of the connecting tunnels.
Collectively, these underground tunnels are known as the Pedway.
The longest section of the Pedway starts at 120 N. LaSalle Street and runs to the Millennium Park by Columbus Drive and Randolph Street.
Underground Tunnels
Many people do not realize several of the buildings that line the curved shoreline and continue to expand towards the west part of the city also have life underneath.
The downtown blocks of Chicago, known as the Loop, contains miles of connecting ground level and underground passages.
I first heard about these underground tunnels from Margaret Hicks, owner of Chicago Elevated and the person who gave me the tour of the Pedway.
When she described it as…
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