SouthLoopUpdate is maintained by
Dennis McClendon of South Loop Neighbors.

St. Charles Air Line

Canadian National Railroad is reconstructing the St. Charles Air Line (the railroad that runs through the South Loop at 1530 S). They have replaced overpasses at Michigan, Wabash, State, Dearborn, and Clark with new single-track spans that don't need any pillars within the street ROW. All bridges except Dearborn will be Cor-Ten steel.

Nothing will be done with the now-unused portion of the ROW, south of the active tracks, and the unused abutments will remain. Utility work began in 2019. The project includes moving the westbound control point to just north of McCormick Place, meaning trains will no longer idle next to Dearborn Tower waiting long periods of time for clearance to cross the Metra Rock Island tracks.