The bridge was first conceived by Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett in the 1909 Plan of Chicago.

The plan proposed Congress Street to be the main east–west boulevard in downtown and the West Side.

The Post Office Department eventually built a tunnel through the structure for the future superhighway after negotiating with Edward Bennett and the Chicago Plan Commission.

[2][4] In the 1940 Comprehensive Superhighway Plan, the city of Chicago designated the superhighway as its highest priority due to high traffic volume on the West Side;[2][3] land acquisition and construction on the highway right of way began in 1949.

[5][6] On July 13, 1953, during the bridge's construction, the city council named the bridge in honor of the late 14th Ward Alderman Clarence P. Wagner, a powerful city politician who was killed in a car crash three days prior near International Falls, Minnesota.