A museum, a mayor and a road: How Lake Shore Drive became a runway ... intentionally

Curious City

WBEZ Chicago

Investigation, Chicago, Radio, Arts, Society & Culture, Public, Education, Curious, City

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 10 December 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lake Shore Drive has served as a makeshift runway for emergency landings. But it’s also been an *intentional* runway for planned arrivals. We go back to 1983 to get the story of how a Chicago institution helped turn our lakeside expressway into an airstrip, at least twice.

Transcript

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