Reversing the Chicago River

Reversing the Chicago River
Reversing the Chicago River

Reversing the Chicago River

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
The Chicago River is now the focus of major attention. Mayor Emanuel has made physical improvements along the river’s Main Branch a priority in his first term. And the river has been the subject of several studies, including one in 2011 that has called for undoing the engineering that famously reversed the river more than a century ago. A new study from the organization Friends of the Chicago River and the conservancy group Openlands indicates a cleaner and improved river would be a multi-billion economic engine for the region. What’s the Chicago River’s future? What should it be and what stands in the way of needed progress? Photo Credit:Flickr/Antonio Bovino