After Labor Day, Navy Pier Flyover will close for about a month for construction

For the second time this summer, the Navy Pier Flyover will close to pedestrians and bicyclists while the new section is connected to the second phase of the project. The work will begin after the long Labor Day weekend to avoid the “height of biking season,” the transportation department said.

The closure will begin early Tuesday, September 3 and is expected to last until late that month. During that time, pedestrians and bicyclists can follow signs for the old Lakefront Trail route at street level across Illinois and Grand on Lower Lake Shore Drive.

When the Navy Pier Flyover does reopen the second phase over DuSable Park will be ready to use with a temporary bridge connecting the path to the east sidewalk of the Lake Shore Drive Bridge. There will also be a ramp from the flyover down to Navy Pier and Illinois Street.

Through the fall, work will continue on the last phase of the project which extend over the Chicago River. It involves retrofitting the Lake Shore Drive Bridge with a cantilever structure that will widen that trail and remove any possible bottleneck areas plus structural and mechanical repairs to the movable bascule bridge.

The goal is still to open the full 2,160-foot path by the end of 2019, the Chicago Department of Transportation’s Michael Claffey said in June. The $60 million project first began construction in 2014, so the completion is long awaited.