10-Aug-19 – More than two million pedestrians were counted on State Street during the week of Lollapalooza and the Chicago Loop Alliance says it was that great street’s busiest week of the year.

Automatic counters were installed on State Street in 2016 to provide data useful to property owners, brokers, investors, and retail tenants. During the week of July 29 through August 4, 2019, the counters recorded 2,062,490 pedestrian impressions, a 7.2 percent increase from the previous week and the highest weekly number this year.

The annual four-day music festival, which this year happened on August 1 through August 4, attracts about 100,000 people to the Loop each day, according to Michael Edwards, CEO of Chicago Loop Alliance, whose mission is to attract people and investment to the Loop.

“Lollapalooza weekend is consistently the biggest weekend of the year for pedestrian activity on State Street,” said Edwards (left). “Attendees may be coming to the Loop for the first time, so as far as economic development goes, it’s a great thing.”

Eighteen counters were installed on the east and west sides of State Street from Wacker Drive south to Ida B. Wells Drive, formerly known as Congress Parkway. They are operated by Springboard, a company based in the United Kingdom. Counters are also at the intersections of Michigan Avenue & Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue & Washington Street. Additional counters are in the Pedway. The system provides data on an hourly, daily, and weekly basis, and compares numbers from the Loop with national trends.

(Right) Traffic on State Street, looking north from Madison Street.

Pedestrian traffic on State Street during the week of Lollapalooza this year was slightly lower than last year. In 2018, Lollapalooza was August 2-5 and during that week, there were 2,116,384 pedestrian impressions, 2.5 percent more than this year.

The busiest day on State Street during Lollapalooza this year was on Friday, August 2. The busiest hour was 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31. The busiest stretch of State Street was between Madison Street and Monroe Street.