Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Homebuilt on July 14, 2009 at 7:38am

Well... you have to get across the river, which means either Grand or Chicago or Kinzie going way out of your way. On either side you have some choices: Hubbard on the west, on the east Kingsbury goes along the river North-South so that you can connect to any other east-west street, like any of the Great Lakes: Erie, Superior, etc.

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Permalink Reply by dan brown on July 14, 2009 at 8:59am

you could bite the bullet and stay on Milwaukee to Lake (I know it's too far),
then East to Clinton, then (North and then East again on Kinzie) past the East Bank Club then basically zig and Zag to
Grand / State.

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Permalink Reply by vxla on July 14, 2009 at 9:22am

K-Rock said:

i'm thinking of shooting off Milwaukee at Division then just taking Division to Wells or Clark. thoughts? how is Division up that way?

Isn't the Division under construction right now?

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Permalink Reply by vxla on July 14, 2009 at 9:33am

K-Rock said:

ooh, maybe. is it passable, or blocked? there's gotta be something better than Grand Ave between Mil and LaSalle. it is HELLISH.

What about California->Armitage->Damen->
........ Cortland->Clybourn->Willow->Larabee->Chicago->
............... Kingsbury->Erie->LaSalle->Grand

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Permalink Reply by Stacey E on July 14, 2009 at 9:53am

My response is similar to vxla's:
Milwaukee to Armitage,
Armitage to Damen,
Damen to Cortland,
Cortland to Clybourn,
Clybourn to Division,
Division to Welles,
Welles to Grand.

Division between Milwaukee and Clybourn is AWEFUL, by the way. Potholes and impassable bridges with tons of glass. Don't do it.

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Permalink Reply by Sean A on July 15, 2009 at 2:44am

They are currently repaving the stretch of Grand between Milwaukee and the River. I am hoping they will be done by the end of the week. They looked to be at about the halfway point this morning.

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Permalink Reply by Homebuilt on July 15, 2009 at 3:02am

Division across Goose Island is not a nice road: two river bridges, and all industrial.

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Permalink Reply by Kohaku on July 15, 2009 at 5:18am

taking Kinzie instead of Grand is the shortest alt route. 1/4 mile difference or less?
Division doesn't seem that bad but it's further.

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Permalink Reply by payton on July 15, 2009 at 6:26am

I strongly recommend Kinzie. Turn left at the chocolate factory and follow Kinzie over. It's faster,* MUCH lower traffic, very nicely paved, and it's just two blocks out of your way. Division has a bunch of reverse bottlenecks, two narrow metal-grate bridges, some annoying railroad track crossings, and a lot more traffic -- why bother? Cortland is losing its charm as more drivers find out about it.

Similarly, there's less traffic west of the river than east of the river; I sometimes mix it up just to vary things, but I'm always more stressed out if I use roads like Clybourn. (And that's even if I use lower-traffic roads like Kingsbury instead.)

* It's "below" several of the key north-south cross streets, like Orleans and Michigan, so there's a lot less traffic to wait for.

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