Grand Avenue is a major east-west street in the city of Chicago and nearby DuPage County, although it deviates somewhat from Chicago's grid system, as it is diagonal west of Western Avenue. The street runs from the Kingery Highway (also known as U.S. Route 20 and Illinois Route 83) in Elmhurst, east through the western suburbs, and then east-southeast into Chicago, through the Magnificent Mile shopping area, and continuing out to Navy Pier, where it ends. This is a distance of about 19 miles (31 km).
Grand Avenue was originally known as Whiskey Point Road, first used as a trail by the Miami, Illini and many other Native Nations, it leads to the West Side of Chicago, near Western Avenue. On the Near North Side it was called Indiana Street. Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen, Chicago's first town president, is believed to have named it in 1833 after naming Chicago, "a grand place to live."
Grand Avenue is serviced by several transit lines.
The Blue Line stops at at Halsted Street and Milwaukee Avenue; this stop is the first one north of The Loop. The Red Line also stops at at State Street, close to the Magnificent Mile and Navy Pier. In 2007, the CTA began a renovation project at the station, which was completed in 2012. Metra's Milwaukee District West Line and the North Central Service parallel Grand Avenue between and the West Loop
The 65 Grand bus route runs along Grand Avenue, from Nordica Avenue near Mont Clare station to Navy Pier. 319 Grand Avenue, a Pace bus route, serves Grand Avenue west from Nordica Avenue, serving the neighborhood of Montclare in Chicago as well as multiple suburbs like Franklin Park and Elmwood Park. The route usually runs from Nordica Avenue in Chicago to Wolf Road/North Avenue in Northlake. However, certain buses on the same route travel northwest along Wolf Road and Franklin Avenue/Green Street toward Bensenville station.