Another Chicago bridge gets stuck in sweltering heat hours after DuSable Lake Shore Drive bridge reopens

Commuters faced headaches in multiple directions Wednesday as the Torrence Avenue Bridge got stuck in the raised position late Wednesday afternoon, just hours after the DuSable Lake Shore Drive bridge reopened following a similar occurrence.

The city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications confirmed via social media at 6:20 p.m. that the Torrence Avenue Bridge — located over the Calumet River on Far South Side — was “stuck in the up position” and said hot weather caused the issue. The office urged drivers to use alternate routes.

Just hours earlier, the DuSable Lake Shore Drive bridge was reopened to traffic Wednesday afternoon, over four hours after the bridge became stuck open during a routine lift.

With the bridge unable to close all the way, traffic was snarled up and down the drive.

The bridge over the Chicago River “experienced a heat-related issue preventing it from fully closing” around 10 a.m. after it was lifted for a large yacht to pass beneath, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation.

Crews then spent the next several hours trying to get the bridge to close completely. A Chicago Fire Department boat could be seen spraying water on the structure, apparently to cool it down. Chicago was under a heat advisory Wednesday. The temperature had reached 90 degrees by early afternoon.

Shortly after 2:30 p.m., the Transportation Department said the bridge was fully lowered and open to traffic.

“We appreciate the public’s patience as crews worked to resolve this issue,” CDOT spokeswoman Erica Schroeder said in an email.

The bridge lift had been planned to occur at 10 a.m. for the Spirit of Chicago, a dining yacht with room for 600 passengers, according to an earlier city alert.

A crowd of Lakefront Trail users gathered on the north end of the bridge, waiting as crews fully raised the bridge around noon as the Spirit of Chicago yacht returned to Navy Pier.

The bridge appeared to close all the way, briefly, at 12:15 p.m. But the attempt was unsuccessful, and the bridge was lifted slightly open once again.

One waiting cyclist burst out in frustration: “What’s going on here? This is crazy.”

Another cyclist, Pilbin Im, said she was biking Downtown to a meeting and wasn’t aware the bridge was malfunctioning. She had been waiting for two minutes at the stuck bridge before being told by a reporter that the closure had been going on for two hours.

“If there was a sign, that would have been nice,” she said.

The DuSable Lake Shore Drive bridge is listed in “poor” condition, according to federal bridge inspection records. The same bridge was closed to traffic for over a day in 2019 when city inspectors noticed several cracked beam joints.

Bridges in Chicago have occasionally become stuck for various reasons. In 2015, the Michigan Avenue Bridge become stuck open for two hours due to an electrical issue. The Sun-Times reported in April that about 1 in 6 of Chicago’s bridges are rated in “poor” condition.