The Kennedy was originally constructed along the route of Avondale Avenue, an existing diagonal street, and the
C&NW Northwest Line corridor, in the late 1950s and completed on November 5, 1960. On January 21st 1961, a new reversible roadway was completed. Originally named the
Northwest Expressway for its general direction of travel, the
Chicago City Council voted unanimously on November 29, 1963—one week after
the assassination of President Kennedy—to rename the highway the
John F. Kennedy Expressway. Throughout 1971, the old roadway was removed and replaced by new roadway. when the existing express lanes, which previously were reversed by hand, were modernized. In addition, all aspects of the express lanes system were computerized, so that the process could be controlled at both ends from a central location. At least once a day, however, IDOT crews still examine the express lanes for debris while the lanes are closed. , with the reversible express lanes to the right of the tracks In 2005, the Washington Street bridge over the expressway was reconstructed, and the entrance ramps to both directions of the Kennedy were partially removed. The same was done in 2006 for the Monroe Street bridge. This left a disconnected portion of each ramp remaining on the expressway, to be removed and the existing "suicide ramps" lengths extended when funding became available. The
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided the necessary funding for the construction between
Hubbard Street and the
Circle Interchange, commencing in summer 2009. The westbound (facing north) ramps at Adams Street and Madison Street, along with the eastbound (facing south) ramps at Randolph Street and Madison Street, were lengthened by removing what remained of abandoned ramps and lengthening the entrance ramps significantly. The only remaining short, limited-sight, left-side suicide ramp entrance is from Lake Street to the eastbound expressway (heading south). As part of the project, eastbound (heading south) traffic patterns were adjusted. The two right-most lanes were made "exit only" for
Chicago Loop,
Ida B. Wells Drive, and
Eisenhower Expressway exits, the Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard exits were combined, certain center median walls reconstructed, lanes restriped to remove the merging of the leftmost lanes, and appropriate signage changes. For example, the changes increased the taper for the Randolph Street entrance headed eastbound from , an increase of over 3.6 time. In the westbound direction (headed north), the exit ramp to Monroe Street was permanently removed. In 2015, the
American Highway Users Alliance named the of the Kennedy between the Circle Interchange and Edens junction the worst traffic bottleneck in the country. == Impact ==