Stony Island Avenue

Running roughly parallel to the Illinois Central Railroad, Stony Island Avenue forms the western boundary of Jackson Park, former home of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 and current home of the Museum of Science and Industry. Buildings of the University of Chicago line its western side, as does the national headquarters of the historically black Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Between 59th and 60th streets the Midway Plaisance runs westward to connect Jackson Park to Washington Park a mile away. Shortly after leaving the Hyde Park neighborhood sits Hyde Park Career Academy at 63rd Street. The Barack Obama Presidential Center is being built in Jackson Park across from the high school.

Stony Island becomes an extremely wide thoroughfare between 67th and 94th streets. At 71st Street there is a Metra Electric Line Stony Island Avenue station. Just south of 71st was the famous Moo & Oink Grocery Store that closed its doors in 2011.Moo & Oink Closing: http://www.suntimes.com/business/8822587-420/moo-oink-goes-up-for-auction.html At 73rd Street is the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam. At 75th Street is Jackson Park Hospital. Stony Island meets 79th Street, and South Chicago Avenue forming a major and large intersection, with the ramps of the Chicago Skyway overhead. Adjacent to this intersection on 79th Street is the New Regal Theater famous as The Avalon, a Chicago Landmark.

At about 92nd Street, Stony Island passes to the west of the geographical feature for which it was named, a stony hill that was once an island when the glacial Lake Chicago covered the area thousands of years ago. Early pioneers gave this hill—located in the present day neighborhood of Calumet Heights, Chicago (also referred to as Pill Hill for the large number of doctors who used to live in the area), at {{coord|41|43|42|N|87|34|47|W|}}—the name Stony Island because at a distance it looked like an island set in a tractless prairie sea. (See also the nearby Blue Island.) At the intersection with 93rd Street is the Bronzeville Children's Museum. It is the only African-American children's museum in the U.S. South of 103rd Street, Stony Island Ave. enters the heavily industrialized region of Lake Calumet.

At some points in the south suburbs, street signs for Stony Island Avenue are misspelled as Stoney Island Avenue.

{{see also|Lake Shore Drive#Interstate 494}}

{{Infobox road small

|state=IL

|type=I 1961

|route=494

|location=Chicago, Illinois

|formed=1950s

|deleted=1966

}}

Between 103rd Street and the {{jct|state=IL|US|12|US|20|noshield=yes|name2=95th Street}}, there is a significant gap in the road. This gap is filled by the Stony Island Avenue expressway, which runs for approximately {{convert|2|mi|km|0|spell=on|sp=us}} between {{jct|state=IL|I|94|noshield=yes|name1=Bishop Ford Freeway}} and 95th Street. At its northern end, the road reverts to at-grade status.{{cite web|title=Overview of Stony Island Avenue expressway|url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/41.6991534,-87.5942116/41.7077693,-87.585775/41.7141981,-87.5847437/41.7223416,-87.5850239/@41.7107433,-87.6069202,14z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!4m1!3e0|website=Google Maps|publisher=Google, Inc.|accessdate=July 30, 2017}}

During the 1960s, the expressway was to have been the southern terminus of I-494, which also would have included an upgraded Lake Shore Drive in its routing.{{cite web |url=http://nwindianahwys.homestead.com/CHI58.html |title=CHI58 |access-date=5 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040414030512/http://nwindianahwys.homestead.com/CHI58.html |archive-date=April 14, 2004}}{{cite web |url=http://nwindianahwys.homestead.com/1962chi.html |title=1962chi |access-date=5 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020816185514/http://nwindianahwys.homestead.com/1962chi.html |archive-date=August 16, 2002}}{{cite map |publisher=Rand McNally and Co. |title=Road Atlas United States Canada Mexico |year=1964 |page=34}}{{cite web |url=http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gtg377a/cont.html |title=ILLI |access-date=6 May 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503005513/http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gtg377a/cont.html |archive-date=May 3, 2007}} This plan was abandoned in 1966 as the I-494 designation was moved to the now-canceled Crosstown Expressway.{{AASHTO minutes|year=1966S|access-date=October 15, 2021}}

{{jcttop|state=IL|county=Cook|location=Chicago|unnum=yes|length_ref=}}

{{ILint

|mile=0.00

|road={{jct|state=IL|I|94|dir1=east|name1=Bishop Ford Freeway|location1=Indiana}}

|notes=Southern terminus of the Stony Island Avenue expressway; I-94 west exit 65}}

{{ILint

|mile=0.8

|road=103rd Street

}}

{{ILint

|mile=1.3

|road={{jct|state=IL|I|94|dir1=west|name1=Bishop Ford Freeway|to2=to|I|57|dir2=south|location1=Wisconsin|location2=Memphis}}

|notes=I-94 east exit 65; northbound access via 103rd Street interchange}}

{{ILint

|mile=1.9

|road={{jct|state=IL|US|12|US|20|name2=95th Street}}

|notes=At-grade intersection; northern terminus of the Stony Island Avenue expressway; road continues as Stony Island Avenue}}

{{jctbtm}}

Stony Island Avenue is primarily served by 28 Stony Island, running from the 103rd Street bus garage, providing a transfer to other bus routes (including Pace bus route 353), to a bus turnaround at 47th Street/Lake Park Avenue near a Metra station. On weekdays, route 28 buses may begin/end at Olive–Harvey College; during weekday rush hours, buses may travel through Lake Shore Drive and downtown toward Chicago Union Station.{{cite web |title=28 Stony Island (Bus Route Info) |url=https://www.transitchicago.com/bus/28/ |publisher=Chicago Transit Authority |access-date=1 September 2024 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=RTA System Map |url=https://www.rtachicago.org/uploads/images/general/RTA-System-Map.pdf |publisher=Regional Transportation Authority |access-date=1 September 2024 }}

CTA bus routes 2 (Hyde Park Express), N5 (South Shore Night Bus), 6 (Jackson Park Express), 15 (Jeffery Local), 95 (95th), and Pace bus route 353 run along the road in short segments. At 71st Street, the Stony Island station on the South Chicago branch of the Metra Electric serves Stony Island Avenue.

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• {{portal-inline|U.S. Roads}}

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{{Streets in Chicago}}

Category:Streets in Chicago