Mannheim Road

Mannheim Road

La Grange Road
La Grange Road as it passes through downtown La Grange
Part of	US 12 / US 20 / US 45
South end	US 30 / US 45 in Frankfort
North end	US 12 / US 45 Intersection of Oakton and Lee streets in Des Plaines

Mannheim Road, also known as La Grange Road from Cermak Road to U.S. Route 30 (US 30; Lincoln Highway), is a north–south major street in the near-western suburbs of Chicago. It carries US 12 from Des Plaines to 95th St near Hickory Hills, US 45 between Des Plaines on southwards past Frankfort, Illinois and carries US 20 between Lake Street in Stone Park, Illinois and 95th St. near Hickory Hills.

History

The road is named after a former town called Mannheim that was founded by German farmers in what is now Franklin Park. From Cermak Road on the Westchester–La Grange Park border and points to the south, it is known as La Grange Road. On some small intersections on the part named La Grange Road, the street signs still call the road Mannheim or Manheim.

Route description

Mannheim Road skirts along the eastern edge of O'Hare International Airport; numerous airport hotels and rental car services are located on the street near the airport. One major landmark of Mannheim Road is the Allstate Arena at the intersection of Mannheim Road and Lunt Avenue in Rosemont. Mannheim Road is known for its distinctive utility poles erected on the east side beginning at North Avenue. These poles are rectangular instead of cylindrical and have diagonal crossarms with street lights at the ends of some of them.

There is a Metra station on the Milwaukee West Line at Mannheim Road; in addition, Amtrak's Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg and Metra's BNSF Railway Line has a stop on La Grange Road in La Grange. Mannheim Road rises over a couple of freight railroad yards before skirting along the eastern edge of O'Hare Airport: Union Pacific's Proviso rail yard and CPKC's Bensenville railroad yard. At the northern descent of the latter, the road goes under the Tri-State Tollway. In Stone Park, US Route 20 branches off west on Lake Street.

There's also a school district on the left side of the street named Mannheim School District 83 on the intersection of Grand Avenue and Mannheim Road itself in Franklin Park. North Avenue also dips under Mannheim Road in Melrose Park.

In the southwest suburbs, the street (under the name LaGrange Road) acts as the main commercial street for the suburb of Orland Park, the area's major commercial center. The road continues as a major commercial arterial for Frankfort, where it veers southwest past Route 30 and continues south through Green Garden Township under various signage before picking up Route 52 south of Andres, in Peotone Township, from where it continues to its final termination at IL Route 102 in Bourbonnais.