Lake Cook Road (alternatively referred to as County Line Road or Main Street in some areas) is a major east–west

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

, McHenry, and Kane Counties in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. For much of its length, it marks the border between Cook and Lake Counties, hence the name of the road. In its western stretch, it marks the border between McHenry and Cook Counties, and further west, McHenry and Kane Counties. The road is approximately in length, from its western terminus at

Illinois Route 62 Illinois Route 62 (IL 62) is a east–west state road in northeast Illinois. It runs from western Algonquin at IL 31 (Western Algonquin Bypass) to the intersection with IL 83 (Elmhurst Road) by industrial Mount Prospect. Route ...

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

to its eastern terminus at

Sheridan Road Sheridan Road is a major north-south street that leads from Diversey Parkway in Chicago, Illinois, north to the Illinois-Wisconsin border and beyond to Racine. Throughout most of its run, it is the easternmost north-south through street, closest ...

in Highland Park and Glencoe, near

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

. The road is notable for its cross-section of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

's northern suburbs, balancing densely developed commercial, industrial, and residential land uses, with open space areas such as forest preserves, parks, golf courses, creeks, rivers, gardens, and Lake Michigan.

Municipalities served

Lake Cook Road goes through, or runs adjacent to, sections of the following municipalities from west to east:

Barrington Hills Barrington Hills is a village located about northwest of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 4,114. It straddles approximately over four counties, Cook, Kane, Lake, and McHenry. The Village of Bar ...

, Barrington, Deer Park,

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

, Long Grove, Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Riverwoods, Northbrook, Deerfield, Highland Park, and Glencoe.

Roadway jurisdiction

The majority of the road, from Rand Road in Palatine to Skokie Highway (

U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...

) in Northbrook is maintained by the Cook County Highway Department designated Cook County Trunk Highway A50. The Cook County-maintained stretch is four lanes wide, with the exception of the stretch between Lexington Drive and Wilmot Road where it is six lanes wide. The far western segment of the roadway (which is called Lake Cook Road in Algonquin and County Line Road in Barrington Hills) from Illinois Route 62 to Ridge Road in Algonquin and Barrington Hills is maintained by the McHenry County Division of Transportation designated McHenry County Highway A50. Other segments, such as the segment between Ridge Road and Quentin Road in Barrington and the eastern segment from Skokie Highway to

in Highland Park and Glencoe are maintained by the

Illinois Department of Transportation The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers f ...

without any route number.

Route description

Barrington area (Algonquin Road to Quentin Road)

At its western terminus at

(Algonquin Road), the roadway begins as a two-lane road called Lake Cook Road near a residential neighborhood and commercial area in Algonquin. Further east, the road's name changes to County Line Road at Haegers Bend Road and the road travels through largely rural and sparsely developed sections in Barrington Hills, with a significant amount of dense wooded areas and estate-style development, making for a very scenic drive. However, wildlife is also prevalent in this area, due to the presence of Spring Creek (a popular migratory route for animals in the area), which can make for hazardous nighttime driving conditions. As the road enters the town of Barrington, the road's name changes to Main Street and has an at-grade crossing at the Canadian Pacific Railroad formerly the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railway and traffic notably increases, particularly in downtown Barrington at the intersections of

Illinois Route 59 Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...

(Hough Street),

U.S. Route 14 U.S. Route 14 (abbreviated U.S. 14 or US 14), an east–west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It currently has a length of 1,398 miles (2,250 km), but it had a peak length of 1,429 miles (2,300 km). For ...

(Northwest Highway), and the at-grade Union Pacific/Northwest Line, especially during weekday rush periods, when

Metra Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines ...

trains stop frequently at the nearby station. As the road continues east through the remainder of Barrington and Deer Park, it runs adjacent to more estate-style development and residential neighborhoods as well as another forested area near Deer Grove Forest Preserve in Palatine.

Northwest Suburban area (Quentin Road to Milwaukee Avenue)

The road's name changes to Lake Cook Road and as the road intersects with Quentin Road, it becomes a four-lane highway (which it remains for much of the remainder of the route) near the Deer Park Town Center commercial center and soon after intersects

U.S. Route 12 U.S. Route 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90) and I-94, but unlike most U.S. routes that ...

near a

blight Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. Description Blight is a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral orga ...

ed commercial strip which formally was home to a strip club, which until recent signal and intersection modifications were made, was one of the most dangerous intersections in Illinois. The roadway then crosses Deerpath Lake over a bridge, intersects Hicks Road, and then intersects the terminus of the

Illinois Route 53 Illinois Route 53 (IL 53) is an arterial north–south state highway in northeast Illinois. IL 53 runs from Main Street west of historic U.S. Route 66 (US 66) in Gardner to IL 83 in Long Grove, a distance of . It mainly ...

expressway, near a mass of apartment complexes in Palatine. After this intersection, the road is highlighted by the dense single-family neighborhoods on the south side of the roadway in Arlington Heights and the Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve on the north side of the roadway in Long Grove. As the road intersects Arlington Heights Road near neighborhood commercial plazas, it enters Buffalo Grove and becomes a four-lane boulevard, going past more residential neighborhoods, a small office center, the Buffalo Grove Municipal Complex, and Buffalo Creek, and then intersecting Buffalo Grove Road, Illinois Route 83 (McHenry Road), and Weiland Road, in rapid succession near an historic church and regional commercial plazas. A project in 2016-2018 will widen Lake Cook Road from four-lanes to six-lanes at these congested intersections. After intersecting Weiland Road, the road is then bounded by Buffalo Grove on the north and Wheeling on the south. After Lexington Drive, the roadway widens to six lanes. In this area, it goes past an apartment complex in Wheeling, crosses the

Soo Line Railroad The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , one of seven U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sa ...

(Metra's

North Central Service The North Central Service (NCS) is a Metra commuter rail line running from Union Station in downtown Chicago through northwestern and far northern suburbs to Antioch, Illinois. In June 2018, the public timetable shows 10 weekday departures from ...

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

line) over a bridge, goes past the Chevy Chase Golf Course in Buffalo Grove, and forms an interchange with

Illinois Route 21 Illinois Route 21 (IL 21) is an arterial north–south state highway in northeastern Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 43 (Harlem Avenue) in Niles to U.S. Route 41 (Skokie Highway) north of Gurnee. Illinois 21 is 28.13 miles (45.27&nbs ...

U.S. Route 45 U.S. Route 45 (US 45) is a major north-south United States highway and a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as . US 45 is notable for incorporatin ...

(Milwaukee Avenue) near the Westin North Shore Hotel and Convention Center.

North Shore area (Milwaukee Avenue to Sheridan Road)

The road then crosses the

Des Plaines River The Des Plaines River () is a river that flows southward for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois''American H ...

, and goes through the Potawatomi Woods Forest Preserve before entering Riverwoods, Northbrook, and Deerfield. Here, the road intersects Portwine Road, Sanders Road, and Wilmot Road and forms an interchange with

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern term ...

Interstate 294 Interstate 294 (I-294) is a tolled auxiliary Interstate Highway in northeastern Illinois. It forms the southern portion of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois. I-294 runs from South Holland at I-80/ I-94 and Illinois Route 394 (IL 394) t ...

(the Tri-State Tollway) at the

Edens Spur Interstate 94 (I-94) generally runs north–south through the northeastern portion of the US state of Illinois, in Lake and Cook counties. It is signed east–west in Illinois in accordance with its general alignment across the country, w ...

. This area is surrounded by numerous offices, industrial buildings, and corporate headquarters including those of

Baxter International Baxter International Inc. is an American multinational healthcare company with headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois. The company primarily focuses on products to treat kidney disease, and other chronic and acute medical conditions. The company ...

Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...

, and

Underwriters Laboratories The UL enterprise is a global safety science company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, composed of three organizations, UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement and UL Solutions. Established in 1894, the UL enterprise was founded as ...

. After Wilmot Road, the roadway continues as six lanes after a widening project complete in 2013. Near Underwriters, the road intersects Pfingsten Road and Metra's

Milwaukee District/North Line The Milwaukee District North Line (MD-N) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its northern suburbs. Although Metra does not refer to any of its lines by color, the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District North line are pa ...

, where the Lake Cook Road Metra station can be found. Shortly thereafter, the road intersects

Illinois Route 43 Illinois Route 43 (IL 43) is a major north–south state highway in the U.S. state of Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 30 (US 30) in Frankfort north to the large intersection of IL 120 (Belvidere Road) and US 41 (Skokie Highway) ...

(Waukegan Road) near a retail area and goes past the

Northbrook Court Northbrook Court is a shopping mall in Northbrook, Illinois with a collection of stores serving the North Shore suburbs of Chicago. Located on of land, the mall currently features Neiman Marcus as well as a handful of popular specialty stores ...

regional

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that ...

soon after. The road reverts to a four-lane road after Waukegan Road. The road then intersects Ridge Road, a freight railroad track, Skokie Boulevard, and forms an interchange with Skokie Highway (U.S. Route 41). The road then narrows down to a two-lane road and goes past

Chicago Botanic Garden The Chicago Botanic Garden is a living plant museum situated on nine islands in the Cook County Forest Preserves. It features 27 display gardens in four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shor ...

, intersects Green Bay Road, intersects Metra's

Union Pacific/North Line The Union Pacific North Line (UP-N) is a Metra line in the Chicago metropolitan area. It runs between Ogilvie Transportation Center and Kenosha, Wisconsin; however, most trains terminate in Waukegan, Illinois. Although Metra owns the rolling st ...

at Highland Park's Braeside Metra station near the

Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is an outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September. The first orchestra to perform at Ravinia Festival was the New York Philharmonic unde ...

music center, and runs concurrent with, and terminates at,

near the Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe, only a few hundred feet from

Major intersections

Metra commuter rail lines

Lake Cook Road crosses the paths of the four

rail lines servicing Chicago's north and northwestern suburbs. * Union Pacific/Northwest Line (at-grade intersection at the Barrington station) *

(at a bridge, located equidistant between the Buffalo Grove station and the Wheeling station) *

(at a bridge at the

Lake Cook Road Lake Cook Road (alternatively referred to as County Line Road or Main Street in some areas) is a major east–west highway in Cook, Lake, McHenry, and Kane Counties in Illinois. For much of its length, it marks the border between Cook and L ...

station) *

(at-grade intersection at the

Braeside Braeside, meaning ''hillside'' in the Scots language, may refer to: * Braeside, Aberdeen, Scotland * Braeside, Greenock, Scotland * Braeside, Victoria, Australia * Braeside, Ontario, Canada * Braeside Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona * Breaside, Chic ...

station)

Ecology

Lake Cook Road travels through some of the most important and ecologically diverse areas in the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hin ...

. In its western part, it goes through heavily wooded areas, and goes through Spring Creek Forest Preserve and crosses Spring Creek. In its central sections, it runs adjacent to the Deer Grove Forest Preserve and Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve and crosses Buffalo Creek. Further east, it crosses the

near the Potawatomi Forest Preserve. Even further east, it crosses north branches of the

Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons fo ...

and the

Skokie River The Skokie River (or East Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 19, 2011 river that flows through the northern suburbs o ...

, runs past the

and ends near

. While this makes for very scenic views, it also presents a challenge to the region, as it works to balance environmental preservation with safety, transportation, recreation, and economic development needs.

Economics

In addition to traversing natural areas, Lake Cook Road also is known for traversing some of the most economically advanced areas in the

. Two regional malls, Deer Park Town Center and

, can be found along the road, which contain immense clusters of retail development in their vicinities, including big-box stores, fashion stores, upscale restaurants, and services. An additional smaller cluster of retail development can be found in Buffalo Grove. In addition, near the intersection of Lake Cook Road and the Tri-State Tollway (near Northbrook, Riverwoods, and Deerfield) is a major cluster of office and industrial development which employs thousands of people (known as an

edge city ''Edge city'' is a term that originated in the United States for a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban residential or rura ...

), which contains the corporate headquarters for

, and

, which are all found along the road. Additional employers can be found within a few miles of the road, extending north–south along Milwaukee Avenue, the Tri-State Tollway, and Skokie Highway. Because of the property tax structure of Cook County, where commercial properties are taxed at a higher rate than residential properties, a majority of the commercial properties along Lake-Cook road are on the north side of Lake-Cook road (which is in Lake County) and a majority of residential properties are located on the south side of Lake-Cook road (which is in Cook County).

References

{{reflist Transportation in McHenry County, Illinois Transportation in Kane County, Illinois Algonquin, Illinois Arlington Heights, Illinois Barrington, Illinois Buffalo Grove, Illinois Highland Park, Illinois Northbrook, Illinois Palatine, Illinois Transportation in Lake County, Illinois Transportation in Cook County, Illinois Roads in Illinois