Lincoln Avenue (Chicago)
| Little Fort Road | |
.jpg) Lincoln Avenue near Clark Street | |
 | |
| Part of |  US 41 |
|---|---|
| Length | 13 mi (21 km) |
| Location | Chicago |
| South end | Clark Street (1800 N/164 W)[1] in Chicago |
| North end |  IL 58 / Dempster Street (8800 N/6450 W)[2] in Morton Grove |
Lincoln Avenue is a street of the north side of city of Chicago. It runs from Clark Street (itself a diagonal) on the western border of Lincoln Park largely to the northwest, ending in Morton Grove, Illinois. It leaves the city limits of Chicago at Devon Avenue, through the village of Lincolnwood, curves through the village of Skokie and ends at Dempster Street in Morton Grove. In total distance it is about 13 miles (21 km) long, although it is not completely continuous. Between Foster Avenue and Skokie Boulevard U.S. Route 41 runs on Lincoln Avenue.
Most of Lincoln Avenue is zoned commercial, and is lined by shops, restaurants and other establishments. It is the site of the yearly Taste of Lincoln Avenue,[3] held between Fullerton Avenue and Wrightwood Avenue. It is also the site of the Maifest and German American Fest in Lincoln Square.
History
[edit]
Originally it was a Native American trail running along a slight ridge in the usually soggy ground of pre-settlement Chicago. Prior to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the street was known as Little Fort Road, and it led to the town of Little Fort, now known as Waukegan, Illinois. In Morton Grove it was known as Miller's Mill Road.
Transportation
[edit]Lincoln Avenue hosts a few CTA bus routes and one Pace bus route.
11 Lincoln is a CTA bus route that primarily travels along Lincoln Avenue as well as Kedzie Avenue, running from Western station on the Brown Line to a bus turnaround adjacent to the North Shore Channel Trail at Howard Street/McCormick Boulevard. Two other CTA routes, 74 Fullerton and 37 Sedgwick, partly run along Lincoln Avenue in order to travel in the opposite direction after reaching their destination.[4]
210 Lincoln Avenue is a Pace bus route that also travels along Lincoln Avenue along with other roads, running from Lincolnwood Town Center to Glenbrook Hospital.[4]
Lincoln Avenue is serviced by several train stations on the Brown Line: Paulina station, Addison station and Western station. The street also serves Morton Grove station on Metra's Milwaukee District North Line.[5][4]
History
[edit]Prior to late 2012, bus route 11, then called 11 Lincoln/Sedgwick, traveled well beyond today's southern terminus toward downtown and Clinton station via Lincoln Avenue and Sedgwick Street. The southern section of the bus route along Sedgwick Street was split into the current 37 Sedgwick. The rest of the section south of Western station was discontinued, because it largely paralleled the Brown Line and received low ridership. Residents around the discontinued alignment criticized the service cut as detrimental to businesses and commuters.[6][7][8][9]
In November 2015, in response to neighborhood pressure, the CTA announced the re-extension of bus route 11 to Fullerton station.[10][11] Bus operation along this portion of Lincoln Avenue was reinstated in June 2016 but as a 6-month pilot program.[12] Six months later, in December 2016, the CTA extended the program for another six months.[13][14] The pilot program concluded on September 1, 2017, with bus route 11 being truncated back to Western station.[15][16][17]
Major intersections
[edit]The entire route is in Cook County.
| Location | mi[5] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | 0.0 | 0.0 | N Clark Street | Southern terminus | |
| 3.6 | 5.8 |  IL 19 (West Irving Park Road) | |||
| 5.3 | 8.5 |  US 41 south (West Foster Avenue) | Southern end of US 41 concurrency | ||
| 6.7 | 10.8 |  US 14 (West Peterson Avenue) | |||
| Skokie | 9.5 | 15.3 |   US 41 north (Skokie Boulevard) / IL 50 south (Cicero Avenue) | Northern end of US 41 concurrency | |
| Morton Grove | 12.6 | 20.3 | IL 58 (Dempster Street) | Northern terminus | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
Notable establishments
[edit]- Biograph Theater
- Davis Theater
- Three Penny Cinema
- Krause Music Store
- Old Town School of Folk Music
- Pueblito Viejo
References
[edit]- ^ Lincoln Avenue at Chicago Neighborhood & City Guide
- ^ Lincoln Avenue at Google Maps
- ^ Taste of Lincoln Avenue Archived 2007-03-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c "RTA System Map" (PDF). Regional Transportation Authority. February 2024. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
- ^ a b "Lincoln Avenue Overview (Chicago)".
- ^ "Neighbors Fight CTA's Plan To Cut Most Of Lincoln Avenue Bus Route". CBS Chicago. August 23, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
- ^ Wetli, Patty (December 11, 2012). "Supporters of No. 11 Lincoln Bus Pack CTA Meeting". DNAinfo Chicago. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
- ^ Wisniewski, Mary (August 8, 2017). "CTA to cut No. 11 Lincoln bus line's extended route". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
- ^ Wetli, Patty (October 7, 2014). "Survey Shows Riders Want No. 11 Bus Back, CTA Stands Behind Cutting Route". DNAinfo Chicago. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
- ^ Wetli, Patty (November 18, 2015). "The No. 11 Bus On Lincoln Avenue Is Coming Back, CTA Announces". DNAinfo Chicago. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
- ^ Greenfield, John (November 18, 2015). "By Popular Demand, CTA Will Test Restored Lincoln and 31st Street Bus Lines". Streetsblog Chicago. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
- ^ Francisco, Tonya (June 20, 2016). "CTA #11 bus returns to Lincoln Avenue". WGN-TV. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
- ^ Bauer, Kelly; Wetli, Patty (December 14, 2016). "No. 11 Bus Gets 6-Month Extension, But CTA Says More Marketing Is Needed". DNAinfo Chicago. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
- ^ Samples, Jonathan (December 14, 2016). "CTA extends pilot bus service along Lincoln Avenue corridor". TimeOut. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
- ^ Wisniewski, Mary (August 8, 2017). "CTA to cut No. 11 Lincoln bus line's extended route". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
- ^ Wetli, Patty (August 31, 2017). "Last Chance To Ride No. 11 Bus, Route Is Gone As Of Friday". DNAinfo Chicago. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
- ^ Stringer, Megan (September 22, 2017). "The Legacy of the Lincoln '11'". Fourteen East. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Lincoln Avenue (Chicago) at Wikimedia Commons
