Talk:Roads and expressways in Chicago

Highways
I am sorely tempted to rewrite this section to be broken out based on the named highway corridor instead of the Interstate numbering. The corridors were planned to fit Chicago; the Interstate numbering was overlaid on top of existing corridor planning after the fact and is therefore excessively confusing. I think the article would be clearer if we based the discussion on the named corridors instead. Kelly Martin 21:09, 15 September 2005 (UTC)
 * As a roadgeek that usually calls roads by their number, I agree. Treatments of roads in cities should concentrate on the name, giving the number almost as an afterthought. --SPUI (talk) 21:58, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

Another question about highways: who is it, exactly, that disputes that I-90 runs down the Skyway? Where else is I-90 supposed to go? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.209.203.41 (talk) 15:14, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

The numbering system copied in Milwaukee?
Milwaukee has its own numbering system too like in chicago. see Milwaukee. Did they copy it out from the Chicago numbering system?

Blocks to a mile vs streets in a mile
Chicago has 8 streets per mile when going north-south, but 16 streets per mile when going east-west. How best to fit this information in with being confusing? Speciate 04:27, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * It's eight blocks to the mile, regardless of whether you're going N-S or E-W. However, some blocks have minor (half-block) streets in the middle.  In some parts of the city these run N-S, in others E-W, and in others it's a random assortment of the two; this is to ensure that these never become through streets.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.209.203.41 (talk) 15:08, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Also, if you look at a state map, it says that on the near south side it goes to 9 to a mile, then 10 to a mile before resuming 1/8 mile. 99.145.89.251 (talk) 06:53, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Street Names
On the South Side:
 * Narragansett Avenue is Ridgeland Avenue
 * 9600W is La Grange Road
 * 8000W is Roberts Road (for a short distance)
 * Since the author doesn't site a source I thought I should mention it. However, the article may pertain only to Chicago proper.

slavery mention
does anyone have a citation for the claim that no streets are named after slave states or capitals? an IP user questioned Richmond and Austin specifically.LurkingInChicago 21:55, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

-That was me, I live in Chicago and I've driven on all of these (sorry for the format, I didn't think it would just change the page). There is also a "Virginia". The only way this could be a fact is if Austin (West side), Richmond & Virginia (North side)and probably some others were named after the same people the states and capitals were named after. If this is the case, then I find the distinction pointless, and if the street has to be named after the state or capital instead of whatever the state or capital is named after, then I doubt there are any streets in Chicago named after states or capitals (ie. Ohio and Michigan are named after the lakes). This "fact" is either untrue or so narrowly defined as to be meaningless. It should be taken down.
 * Well, I read an article in the Chicago Яeader years ago that said that the guys who named the streets were abolitionists. It is possible that streets outside the city limits at that time now have such names. Austin is not named after the capital of Texas. I'll leave it up until a non-anonymous editor takes it down. Speciate 21:35, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Happy now? Do you realize how different it is to say that at one time, a century ago, when it was much smaller Chicago may have had no streets named after slave states or their capitals (possibly according to an old article from a "newspaper" they give away at Panera) than to assert that under its current boundaries (the 6 people in my office, all of whom also live in Chicago, agree that these streets are within city limits, btw) Chicago has no such streets? I'm taking it down, it's simply not true.(Argentina Dan 20:58, 10 July 2007 (UTC))
 * Fine, but you should be aware that the Chicago Яeader is a reputable source, which has broken many a story that the Trib and Sun-Times wouldn't touch, but one has to pay to look at their old articles online. Speciate 00:18, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Formatting street names and addresses within articles
When reporting Chicago street addresses on Chicago pages here on Wikipedia, please don't spell out North, South, East or West. Just type N., S., E. or W. We have a few streets, like North Avenue, East End Avenue, South Shore Drive, and South Chicago Avenue, that have direction words within their names, so they need to have their name spelled out for contrast. This is also useful to distinguish buildings with address-like names, such as 900 North Michigan and One North LaSalle, from actual addresses.

Most streets in the city have a stable position in the numbering system; for example, Fullerton Avenue is "2400 North". "Diagonals" are those streets which don't have such a position for all or some of their lengths. However, the addresses along a diagonal are given as being N., S., E. or W, not as NW or some such. Diagonals keep their cardinality for their entire lengths, with the exceptions of Ogden Avenue and Archer Avenue, which change from N to W and from S to W, repectively.

Please always report and spell out the words Avenue, Street, Boulevard, Drive, Road, Place, Court, Park, Parkway, Highway, etc. Give numbered streets as 13th or 53rd, etc, rather than Thirteenth or Fifty-third. There is no need for superscripting, however.

Finally, always describe a street from North to South and from West to East rather than radiating out from the Loop, unless you are describing its known growth history. Speciate 23:12, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Interesting Facts
...lists that Wacker is th eonly street with buildings on all four cardinal directions. But does not Sheridan Road have the same feature, albeit for short intervals?Gary Joseph (talk) 03:10, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

i cannot think of any case where sheridan road has east/west addresses within the city limits —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.57.35.187 (talk) 05:52, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

Central St/Linden Ave as continuations of grid system
I don't think Central St and Linden Ave respectively represent 10400 N and 11200 N in the Chicago grid. For one thing, the suburbs in which these streets are located don't use Chicago's grid system and, regardless, they don't correspond to these locations on a grid overlay of the metro area. I assume whoever added these was had the Purple Line in mind, but "El" stops don't necessarily correspond to major mile streets. Also, (Des Plaines) River Road, listed as 9400 W, is a diagonal. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chicagocago (talk • contribs) 21:49, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

"Minor street letter" in table
I'm of the opinion that the "Minor street letter" column in the Major mile streets table should be removed in its entirety. The phenomenon of minor streets all using the same initial letter based on their distance from the Indiana state line (Karlov, Kildare, Kilbourn, et al.) only exists in a relatively small section of the city, and is more than adequately explained in the text of the preceding Street names section. Besides, the column appears to confuse editors, who have extended the lettering to River Road ("R") and 25th Ave./Rose Street ("R-S") even though I can find no sign that the minor streets continue this initial-letter convention that far west. For now, I have removed the "R" and "R-S" notations, but will hold off on removing the entire column pending further discussion. Kevin Forsyth (talk) 19:13, 3 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Lacking any dissent, I'll be bold. Kevin Forsyth (talk) 22:45, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

Outdated map
The map of interstates is outdated since it doesn't show the southern extension of Interstate 355--Orestek (talk) 04:35, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

8000N
Is the 8000N mile street (Oakton) or Howard? It was certainly Howard when I was in school.... MarkBernstein (talk) 19:23, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

Roads and Expressways in Chicago
The generic term in standard usage by long term residents in the Chicago metro area for multi-lane limited access divided highways is "expressway." Those kinds of highways are sometimes further identified by other terms like "tollway", "skyway", "drive" (LSD) and "freeway". Like the "Skyway" there is only one "freeway" in the Chicago area.

Therefore the name of this Wikipedia entry is a colloquial misnomer. It is also a factual misnomer there being only one so-called "freeway." The name of this article should be "Roads and Expressways". Wegerje (talk) 18:20, 14 February 2011 (UTC)


 * done (albeit a bit late). Ryecatcher773 (talk) 06:53, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Expressway vs. Freeway
Both are regionalisms even though the idea of both is understood by most.

I've lived in parts of the US where they are called both, and for the past 18 I've lived in Chicago where they are called Expressways. Given that the article for freeway will re-direct the user to Controlled-access highway it seems pretty silly to reverse the move I made last month an issue over a re-directing... particularity when this article is explicitly a Chicago-related article, not a general article about roads and highways nationwide (how many articles on WP redirect to this one). Basically, I am adressing this to Thomas Paine1776 who identifies himself as a native Michigander, and is the one who moved it back in the first place. Before you make a case for moving it back (which there isn't any real reason to since this doesn't violate any Wikipedia rules), it should talked about on the WikiProject Chicago page. Thank youRyecatcher773 (talk) 05:21, 24 September 2012 (UTC)
 * In Chicagoland free Interstate highways are named "Expressway" and are maintained by the State of Illinois Department of Transportation. Toll Interstates are named "Tollway" and are maintained by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. This is not local slang, this is drivers using the correct legal name for a road.
 * The Skyway is it's own deal.Sammy D III (talk) 23:20, 12 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Where does "Whether or not the Skyway is part of Interstate 90 is a matter of some debate." come from? Who says it isn't?
 * Why are these U.S. and Illinois numbered roads in this section? Does this relate to Expressway vs definition of freeway stuff? Maybe something like "Other major roads"? Sammy D III (talk) 00:35, 13 March 2013 (UTC)


 * RE: State and US Routes included in said section: I can't vouch for all of them, but IL-83 (Kingery), part of 41 (especially north of the Edens/Kennedy interchange) and Elgin-O'Hare are at points, either parts of expressways already in existence or are basically expressways on their own at some point. Ryecatcher773 (talk) 02:00, 13 March 2013 (UTC)


 * The Interstates and their offshoots are pretty good.
 * The first U.S. 41 Lake Shore Drive is pretty good. The second is redundant, and sort of inaccurate. Nowhere south of 67th Street is U.S. 41 limited access or grade separated.
 * U.S. 14, 12-20, and 45 are all surface streets.
 * Why is the “Amstutz Expressway” referred to as a “freeway” when immediately below the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway is “An unsigned expressway”? They are both named Expressway. And shouldn’t the Elgin-O’Hare be “unnumbered”, it has signs.Sammy D III (talk) 03:42, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Regarding the Amstutz... likely an editing error. I personally have no problem with your proposed edits, so by all means have at it. ;-) Ryecatcher773 (talk) 17:29, 13 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Questions
 * 1. Why won't "Major U.S. Routes" show up between Elgin-O'Hare and U.S. 14?
 * 2. Can 12-20 be separated, so each can be described separately, maybe with 14 between them? Or not, they are the same from Indiana to Lake Street. Thoughts? Have to find out where 14 goes, maybe it started in the city, like old 66?
 * 3. Why are U.S. Routes generally described from SE? Is this E to W protocol? Even numbers are E-W, but odd numbers are N-S, should they be described from N to S? Maybe from SE (S for 45) simply keeps directions the same, almost everything comes around the bottom of the lake?
 * 4. Are you aware that U.S. Routes are only that, numbers superimposed on existing streets, while Interstates are usually built as such from the start (exception, Illinois 5 becoming Interstate 88 long after opening)? Does that matter?
 * Can you set us up, stand back, then delete anything too detailed?Sammy D III (talk) 21:17, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Red Light Cameras
I removed the narrative recently added about Red Light cameras. I did so due to the fact that it was not in keeping with the intent if the article, which is to summarize the actual roads and highways. The section was also accusatory in nature and not neutral in tone. While the section may well have been true it is not appropriate for this article.N9jig (talk) 02:32, 5 August 2016 (UTC)