Remember an EXTREMELY steep bridge in Lemont in late 50's/early 60's?? (Chicago: construction)

[AngelEyez]

Hello




Many years ago, my Great-Aunt used to have a farm in Lemont (Off of Archer Ave and what is now I-355) and as a kid in the late 50's/early 60's my Mom remembers her father having to go over an EXTREMELY steep bridge/overpass on the way to visit her Aunt on her farm (they were coming from Chicago, near 55th & Damen). My mom said that the first time she remembers going over it (or most likely it was just the first time she paid attention lol) she was absolutely terrified as she SWEARS it was as if their car was traveling up this bridge/overpass in an almost upright position and she was afraid that one wrong move, the car would tip back and tumble off. Every time they went to visit after that, as soon as they approached that bridge, my mom would crouch down on the floor of the back seat until her dad told her they were off of it.

Now I know that memories we have as kids can differ drastically from actual reality, but a few weeks ago I was talking with a distant cousin and she also remembers that extremely steep bridge on the way to my Great Aunt's farm and described it EXACTLY as my Mom did. Even though my cousin is almost ten years older than my mom, she also remembers being terrified when HER dad drove over it.

Unfortunately, neither my Mom nor my cousin can pinpoint the location of this extremely steep bridge, and all they remember is that once they were over it, it wasn't long before they reached the farm.

My sister and I REALLY wanted to see this bridge! So, we've searched ALL OVER Lemont and the surrounding areas, even trying different routes that my grandfather might've taken to get to My Great Aunt's farm, with absolutely NO luck. Does anyone here know of such a bridge? Even if it is no longer there, we would at least still like to know where it once was.

Thanks

[chet everett]

In the late 60's / early 70's pretty much all the bridges in that area were standardized / upgraded. The rickety-ness and pitch of many bridges in Lemont / Lockport was legendary. The work on the I&M Canal was started in the 1830's when engineers may not have been so concerned with high speed travel... Illinois and Michigan Canal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I personally don't recall any particularly steep bridge on Archer Ave itself however the whole stretch through what is now the Sag Valley Trail to about 115th street was reconfigured a long time ago and that may have been where things were ...

[AngelEyez]

Thank you for that information Mr. Everett

My Mom wasn't sure where, exactly, the bridge was located as she was just a kid so she didn't pay attention to the route at all, she only remembers that they were getting cose to the farm once my grandfather had to cross that bridge. Another member of this forum just suggested that I contact the Lemont Historical Society, that they might be able to tell me where it once was. I will also try to see if I can find any historical/pre-reconfiguring information about the sag valley trail.

[HollyhockGarden]

Hello -
I grew up in Illinois and have always been a fan of old bridges. I know of one bridge that fits your description perfectly, except it was closer to Chicago rather than Lemont. This bridge was called the " the Lawndale/Lincoln Avenue, former IL-171 bridges over the Des Plaines River and Sanitary and Ship Canal in McCook and Summit", as described on the Forgotten Chicago website. My dad would drive us over these bridges when we would visit my grandmother, who lived at 63rd and Pulaski in Chicago. The bridges were replaced by the present multi-lane bridge that connects 55th Ave and Archer Avenue. The Stevenson Expressway runs right through this area, too.

This route, technically going through McCook to Summit, was very exciting for a child, because there were two bridges, as well as an unusual multi-track railroad crossing [now down to 3 tracks accoring to Google Earth], a steep incline going under a railroad underpass as well as the Cal-Sag Canal bridge. The railroad underpass was directly to the east of the bridge, and the multi-track railroad crossing was to the west of the Des Plaines River bridge, which had the old-fashioned arched cement walls. There was also a small Forest Preserve area there which was a popular fishing area. The Cal-Sag Bridge, I believe, was an operating bridge, meaning it had a bridge tender and would go up for passing bigger boats and barges. There were stoplights on each side of the bridge. There also must have been a seperate bridge for the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which ran right through there.

The stone bridge piers for this bridge are still there. The east end of the former bridge can be approached going northbound from 55th St onto Center Avenue and then heading west curving onto Lincoln St .The old railroad underpass is still there.

Now, this might not be the one you remember, but it quite possibly was along your route. I remember the bridges in Lemont, too, and they were wonderful [and scary]. We used to go on Sunday afternoon drives and we loved to go to Lemont and also Joliet, because of the old bridges. You may want to check this website: Bridgehunter.com: Historic Bridges of the United States

Good luck with your search!

[AngelEyez]

Thank you HollyHock Garden for ALL of that great info!
(Sorry for the year and a half-old reply, I forgot all about this website after my previous computer crashed.)

[zray]

I've lived in the area for 40+ and the steepest thing I ever ran across was Lemont Road or Stephen St./McCarthy Road after the bridge over the canal and RR.

Back before a major re-construction of the bridge it was a very scary ride due to its quite narrow width and long span and old style open girder construction.

Going across it was not a lot of fun when passing large trucks coming in the opposite direction.

Going south after the bridge Lemont road hits a stop light at Main St. and changes into State St. at this point you will start up State St. an extremely steep hill, but if you go over to Stephen St (via a left turn onto Main St. - and turn right onto Stephen St. / McCarthy Rd.) it's even worse, a lot of fun for the kids, especially going down.

Not to sure about the steep bridges.

[OGSummitGalHere67]

I’ll investigate a lil and get back. I don’t like to guess. If I’m going to post I’m 100%. We used to take this same route as I grew up a Catholic in Summit and we travelled weekly to visit the Franciscan nuns in Lemont. I moved and as my life got busier and I got older...I have the deeply engrained memories just maybe need to clear up details. My stomach remembers the anxiety as well as my anticipation of being the lucky car to roll off.....

[TurnpikeTom]

my thought heading north from south end of bridge. you had to do a steep hill and a turn.

heading north. turn left and quick right as a u turn. then left once top of hill. to head north over not so wide bridge.
cars wider back fifty plus years

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

My very-faded and not reliable memory is that the bridge that used to go over the river going into Lemont on Lemont Road used to be a lot steeper before they modernized it in the 1970's, I think. But again, not a reliable memory, and I sure don't remember it being so steep it was "scary".

To me, the "scary" bridge in the area, especially riding motorcycles, is the bridge going over the river valley heading west out of Lockport toward Joliet, I think it's Rt. 6. It's quite high and long, I remember one of my motorcycle-riding buddies actually being afraid of it, LOL. You are up in the air probably a hundred feet, but the bridge is wide and modern, I like going over it. I remember my Old Man describing the Chicago Skyway similarly, I don't think I've ever been on that one.

There's a side street going south from 95th Street just west of 88th Ave., I believe, that was extremely steep, we used to drive (speed) down it. They closed it off in the 1980's as well, I think it dead-ends now from both the north and south sides - I haven't thought about that for years, I think I'll find it the next time I go past. Back in the 1960's, 87th Street going through Hickory Hills into Willow Springs used to have much steeper hills, the Old Man used to goose the car over them and give us kids "butterflies" because it was like being on a roller-coaster - he used to call them "thrillbillies" - much more flattened out now after the road was redone.

Edit: I went back and re-read zray's post, and we are likely talking about the same bridge. Z's memory is likely better than mine on it, it was a rare trip for me to go into Lemont in the 1960's.