Observed arrival · 2026-11-01
The Big Dig Chicago: a lakefront tunnel with a 120-year tax bill
A satirical Chicago megaproject pitch imagines burying Lake Shore Drive and uses a budget estimator to turn its grand plans into household tax math.
○Open
⊠Login
$Paid
†Ads
✦Pretty
●Pro
◎Niche
◉Human
⚑Risk
ƒJS
- For
- Chicago-area readers of civic and infrastructure satire
- Worth noticing
- The ticker adds $12,450 every three seconds; the estimator folds toll booths and “nomadic Pritzker war-camps” into household tax math.
Field notes
The estimator turns its fictional planning choices into projected costs and a Cook County household tax figure; the displayed example pairs eight lanes in each direction with toll booths every half-mile. A separate ticker accrues costs in real time, and the page gives Phase 1 a 2087 target while adding caveats for reviews and winter weather.
Observed signals
Read the marks
Editorial observations of this landing page, not a rating.
○OpenPublic substance visible
✦PrettyNotable craft visible
●ProPolished or operationally mature
◎NicheUnusually specific use
One card from the complete issue