It's Curious City, where we take your questions about Chicago and the region.

And investigate.

Report.

Explore.

From WBEZ.

I'm reporter Robert Lower Z.

If you drive in the Chicago area, you've probably been stuck in traffic on the Eisenhower Expressway.

Jillian Zarlinga sure has.

She lives in Oak Park, and she used to sit in traffic jams back when she commuted to a job as a chaplain at Elmhurst Hospital.

I had a lot of time sitting on the Eisenhower examining this huge area of land, thinking there must have been a lot of

people that lived here before. And I was just curious where they all went.

To answer Gillian's question, I'll take you through neighborhoods and suburbs that were transformed

or even torn apart by the Eisenhower back when it was constructed between 1949 and 1961.

We'll go from east to west along the Ike, which runs almost due west, from the loop out to Oak Park and beyond.

As we dig in, here are things to keep in mind.

First, the scale was massive. Within the city, 13,000 people and more than 400 businesses

were forced to move. Interestingly, Chicago's west side was not predominantly African American

like it is today. In 1950, neighborhoods along the highway's path were 19% black, compared

with 70% now.

Most of the displaced Chicagoans were white, or less often, Hispanic.

And another thing to keep in mind.

Back in the 40s, City Hall knew the Eisenhower would uproot thousands of people and hundreds of businesses.

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