Grand Avenue (Chicago)

Grand Avenue

(530 North/500 North)
Maintained by	Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation, various local agencies
Length	19 mi (31 km)
Location	Franklin Park, IL, Chicago
West end	US 20 at IL 83 in Addison
East end	Navy Pier in Chicago

Grand Avenue is a major east-west arterial surface street in the city of Chicago and nearby DuPage County, although it deviates somewhat from Chicago's grid system, as it is diagonal west of Western Avenue. The street runs from the Kingery Highway (also known as U.S. Route 20 and Illinois Route 83) in Addison, east through the western suburbs, and then east-southeast into Chicago, through the Magnificent Mile shopping area, and continuing out to Navy Pier, where it ends. This is a distance of about 19 miles (31 km).

History

Grand Avenue was originally known as Whiskey Point Road, a muddy American Indian trail leading to the West Side of Chicago, near Western Avenue. On the Near North Side it was called Indiana Street. Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen, Chicago's first town president, is believed to have named it in 1833 after naming Chicago, "a grand place to live."

Transit

Grand Avenue is serviced by many major CTA lines. The Blue Line stops at Grand at Halsted Street and Milwaukee Avenue; this stop is the first one north of The Loop. The Red Line also stops at Grand at State Street, close to the Magnificent Mile and Navy Pier. In 2007, the CTA vowed to remodel the station, one of the busiest in the city. The No. 65 CTA bus runs along Grand Avenue, from Nordica Avenue (7000 W) to Navy Pier. The No. 33 CTA bus runs along Grand Avenue during the morning rush hour. Pace bus No. 319 serves Grand Avenue in the suburbs as well as some of the far western part of the city. It runs from Narragansett Avenue/Fullerton Avenue, in Chicago, to Wolf Road/North Avenue, in Northlake.