The Chicago Department of Transportation is moving ahead with projects to increase the clearance under 11 railroad viaducts this year.

There are 1,750 viaducts in Chicago, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune. Many of them date to the late 1800s - and many of them have had trucks wedged under their low clearance. The Chicago Police Department gave up counting the number of "vertical clearance accidents." They often don't even bother to issue tickets, "because the truck is already crunched like a sardine can with its top peeled off," a police spokeswoman told the paper.
About eight years ago, the CDOT accelerated the program to improve vertical clearances. They target industrial areas and truck routes linked to the expressway system. For instance, the 11-foot 6-inch clearance under the viaduct at Foster near Ravenswood Ave. will be increased to 13 feet 10 inches to accommodate the economic boom east of Ravenswood. Similarly, clearances are being raised on two viaducts on 95th street and another on South Chicago Avenue near the Solo Cup manufacturing plant development.
Depending on the situation, engineers either will raise bridge heights or lower the pavement, at a cost of about $1.5 million per viaduct.