Chicago Road Network Map
Rebuilt following the 1871 fire, Chicago features one of the world's most consistent section-mile grid systems, centered around State and Madison Streets with Lake Shore Drive framing Lake Michigan.
Road Typology & Facts
Local / Native Name
Chicago
Urban Grid Pattern
Strict One-Mile Section Grid
Estimated Road Ways
48,000+
Geographic Bounding Box
41.64, -87.94 to 42.02, -87.52
Primary Arterial Corridors
Michigan Avenue, Lake Shore Drive, State Street, Wacker Drive, Kennedy Expressway
Data Source
OpenStreetMap (ODbL)
Developer & Export API
Extract vector SVG geometries directly into your web applications or pen plotters:
// Programmatically extract Chicago roads:
const res = await window.cityRoads.loadCity('Chicago', {
minLength: 2, // Filter micro segments
includeLabels: true // Minimalist typography
});
console.log(res.svg); // Clean XML <path> markup
Supports iframe postMessage bridge for automated pipelines.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does City Roads render Chicago roads?
City Roads pulls raw street geometries from OpenStreetMap using the Overpass API or pre-indexed protobuf graphs, rendering them in real time on a high-performance WebGL canvas.
Can I export high-resolution posters of Chicago?
Yes! The interactive viewer allows selecting custom background paper hues, ink colors, and exporting vector SVG (infinitely scalable) or print-quality PNG raster snapshots.
Is commercial use permitted?
Map geometries are licensed under the Open Database License (ODbL) by OpenStreetMap contributors. You are free to print, plot, and share visualizations with appropriate OSM credit.