| Western Avenue | |
|---|---|
| 2400 West | |
| Length: | 27.38 mi (44.06 km) |
| Location: | Park Forest, Olympia Fields, Posen, Blue Island, Chicago |
| South end: | County Line Road (32700 S) in Will Township, at the Will / Kankakee County border |
| North end: | Isabella Street at the Evanston/Wilmette border |
Western Avenue is the longest continuous street within the city of Chicago at 23.5 miles (37.82 km) in length.[1] Western Avenue extends south as a continuous road to the Dixie Highway at Sibley Boulevard (Illinois Route 83) in Dixmoor, giving the road a total length of 27.38 miles (44.06 km). However, Western Avenue extends intermittently through the Southland to the Will / Kankakee county border in unincorporated Will Township. Western Avenue is also known as Asbury Avenue as it runs through Evanston, where the road begins at Isabella Street on the Evanston/Wilmette border and continues intermittently south toward Howard Street along the border with Chicago. Within Chicago's grid street system, Western Avenue is 2400 West.
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From 1851 to 1869, Western Avenue delineated the western edge of the city of Chicago. Being at the edge of town, it became a picnic spot, and Riverview Park was built at the intersection of Western and Belmont Avenues. The amusement park remained open from 1904 until 1967. The park's property is now home to the Riverview Plaza shopping center, the Belmont District Chicago Police Station, and DeVry University. Western Avenue is considered one of the most dangerous roads in Chicago for cyclists, commuting motorists generally drive at high speeds and do not share the road with their cycling counterparts. The majority of Western Avenue does not feature a bike lane.
Rosehill Cemetery is also located on Western Avenue in the Lincoln Square neighborhood.
Western Avenue is serviced by many buses and trains. The street is crossed by the Brown Line, Orange Line, Pink Line, Green Line, two times by the Blue Line on the O'Hare and Forest Park branches, and twice by Metra's commuter lines. There are four CTA buses that run along Western Avenue. The main bus route along Western Avenue is the 49 Western, which runs 24 hours a day from Berwyn Avenue (5300 North) on the North Side to 79th Street on the South Side. The 49B North Western runs from Howard Street (7600 North) at the city's northern border to Leland Avenue (4700 North), where it connects to the Brown Line. There is also the 49A South Western bus route that runs from 79th Street in Chicago to 135th Street in suburban Blue Island. However, this bus route only provides weekday rush hour service as a supplement to the #349 South Western Avenue bus route, which is operated by Pace. This route runs from 79th Street in Chicago to the Pace Transportation Center in suburban Harvey, Illinois.
Western Avenue also played host to one of the largest, most raucous annual events the City of Chicago had to offer, the South Side Irish Parade. Held yearly on the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day, along Western between 103rd and 115th Street in the Beverly and Morgan Park neighborhoods, it was the city's largest neighborhood parade, drawing hundreds of thousands of revelers annually.
The parade was canceled after the 2009 event due to a growing number of attacks, especially on police officers. There continues to be an annual Irish Festival, to replace the initially family-oriented parade.
Since 1979, Western Avenue has been the venue for what is billed as the largest motorcycle parade in the world. On the first Sunday of December each year, thousands of motorcyclists assemble at the Dan Ryan Woods Forest Preserve at 87th Street and Western Avenue, bringing new, unwrapped toys for donation to the Toys for Tots charity. The parade drives north to deposit toys at Lane Tech at Addison Street, a distance of over fifteen miles. From 1979 through 2008, the parade instead continued north to deliver the toys to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve station on Foster Avenue, a total distance in excess of eighteen miles.[2]
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