The new North Halsted Bridge in Chicago with its curved steel arches doesn’t have to look impressive to be impressive. Connecting the River West neighborhood to the ever-lively Old Town area, the bridge is designed for multi-modal use, i.e. for bikes and pedestrians, too.
I agree with Blair Kamin’s criticism that it looks squat and not elegant, but the wide lanes and sidewalks are such a huge benefit.
Furthermore, the paint job looks terrible, (lots of drips in the paint), but I suspect that is touchup from vandalism.
Definitely in the plus column, however, is the fact that the engineers figured out how to re-use the foundations from the old steel bridge, no doubt saving millions!
