Report of the Study of Highway Traffic and the Highway System of Cook County, Illinois

Plans for improving Cook County’s highways during Chicago’s rum-running era.

This fascinating report was published in 1925 as a joint effort by the United States Bureau of Public Roads and the Cook County Highway Department. Home to Chicago, Cook County’s rapid population growth and increase in car ownership necessitated widespread improvements in the road network during the mid-1920s. According to statistics provided, there was about 1 car for every 76 people in the county in 1914. That ratio changed to 1 car for ~10 residents in 1924 and was expected to double to 1:5 by 1930!

Extensive recommendations are offered to modernize the county’s system of roads. Tables of data, black & white photographs, and numerous single-page maps validate the meticulous methodology, which included interviews with motorists, automobile tallies, infrastructure surveys, and more. Barriers to construction include the county’s extensive rail network, numerous waterways, and large cemeteries and green spaces.

The volume includes two large fold-out maps. Unsurprisingly, they show some of the most active thoroughfares in Chicago and the county, including Ogden Avenue (the future Route 66), Western Avenue, Indianapolis Avenue, and Michigan Avenue.