The Ike
July 23, 2008
The Ike / thuh EYEK / n. / Unlike the president it's named for, no one really likes this Ike. The Eisenhower Expy. -- initially called the Congress -- opened in 1954. Its pioneering move: putting an L line down the middle of the expressway. Running west from downtown through some of Chicago's roughest neighborhoods, today it's home to bottlenecks, wrong-way drivers, a landfill, crotch rockets and road-ragers. Those left-lane exit and entrance ramps aren't any good, either.