SB Lake Shore Drive daytime lane closures begin Wednesday

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Work on the new pedestrian bridge at 35th Street over Lake Shore Drive on Chicago's South Side enters its next phase Wednesday morning.

The two right lanes of southbound Lake Shore Drive will be closed between 31st and 35th streets from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday this week. Officials said to expect delays. The lanes will be open on Thursday due to accommodate weather, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation.

Crews will install the main pylon on the bridge this week. The center pylon will be more than 100 ft. tall.

This bridge is one of five being built to connect South Side neighborhoods to Lake Michigan.

Cedella Quintey lives on 35th Street. She can't remember the last time she walked to the lakefront. She said the old, rundown bridge was cracked and had turned into a "hang-out area" that didn't seem safe.

Dwoyn Kidd said he can't wait to take his daughter to the lake so she can play in the sand.

"It's real convenient because you won't have to find parking by the lake, or pay. You'll be able to come down and go straight across," Kidd said.

The bridge should be complete by the end of the summer.