State Street Bridge to close Monday for testing

Bridge testing for spring boating season continues Monday with the closure of the State Street Bridge over the Chicago River.

The bridge will be closed from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., according to a statement from Chicago Department of Transportation.

Drivers going north on State will be detoured to travel west on Wacker Drive, north on Dearborn Street and east on Kinzie Street before returning to State, CDOT said. For those traveling south on State, CDOT advises turning west on Kinzie, south on Clark Street and east on Wacker before returning to State.

The current round of testing started in February.

Every spring and fall, workers raise the movable bridges along the Main and South Branches of the river twice weekly — on Saturdays and Wednesdays — to accommodate recreational boats traveling to and from their storage yards.

During these “boat runs,” the bridges — all 27 between Ashland and Lake Shore Drive — are raised sequentially, typically one at a time. Each bridge lift takes an average of 8-12 minutes.