Interstate 94 in Illinois

This article is about the section of Interstate 94 in Illinois. For the entire route, see Interstate 94.

Interstate 94 marker

Interstate 94
Route information
Maintained by IDOT
Length: 77.41 mi[1] (124.58 km)
Major junctions
West end: I-41 / I-94 / US 41 near Zion
 
East end: I-80 / I-94 / US 6 at Lansing
Highway system
IL 93IL 94

Interstate 94 (I-94) generally runs north–south through the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Illinois, in Lake and Cook counties. It is marked east–west in Illinois in accordance with its general alignment across the country, although some entrances on the Tri-State Tollway have north or south I-94 signs. I-94 in Illinois is 78.00 miles (125.53 km) long.[1]

The William G. Edens Expressway (also known as the Edens Parkway and the Edens Superhighway) is the main major expressway north from the city of Chicago to Northbrook, Illinois. Only the short portion from the spur ramp to the expressway's end in Highland Park does not carry I-94. It was the first expressway in Chicago and was opened on December 20, 1951. It has three lanes in each direction. The original name of the expressway was the Edens Parkway, named after William G. Edens, a banker and early advocate for paved roads. He was a sponsor of Illinois' first highway bond issue in 1918.

Route description

The control cities for I-94 generally are Wisconsin or Milwaukee to the north and west, Chicago or Chicago Loop for those heading to the central portion, and Indiana to the south and east.

Wisconsin to Downtown Chicago

I-94 traverses rural and suburban areas in Lake County, and serves Six Flags Great America and the Gurnee Mills mall; extensive office developments and residential districts in southern Lake County and the North Shore region of Cook County, and serves the Old Orchard Shopping Center; the length of the city of Chicago, running just west of the Chicago Loop on the Kennedy Expressway.

Entering Illinois from Wisconsin, I-94 becomes the Tri-State Tollway, with eight lanes (four in each direction), until just north of Deerfield Road where it widens further to 10 lanes as it approaches I-294 and the Edens Spur. This is where three lanes for the Tri-State Tollway branch off and begin I-294 while two lanes for I-94 head east onto the Edens Spur which only has four lanes total (two in each direction).

The highway turns south and widens back to six lanes as it merges with U.S. Route 41 and becomes the Edens Expressway, and then widens to ten lanes (four lanes in each direction plus two reversible lanes) along the Kennedy Expressway. At Ohio Street, the reversible lanes terminate and the highway has 10 lanes to the Jane Byrne Interchange, where the left lane ends and the right lane exits onto the Eisenhower Expressway.

Until 2010, mileposts along the Tri-State Tollway portion of I-94 reflected the distance from the southeastern terminus of the tollway, that led to a counterintuitive increase in the mile numbers as one proceeds "west." In 2010, the mile markers have been renumbered to indicate mileage of I-94 traveled in Illinois, increasing from the Wisconsin border to the Indiana border.[2]

Downtown Chicago to Indiana

South of downtown Chicago, I-94 serves the southeast suburbs of Chicago, including Dolton, Calumet City, and South Holland, Illinois, until it joins I-80 on the Kingery Expressway, which finally enters Indiana east of Lansing, Illinois.

The Bishop Ford Freeway in South Holland, approaching exit 73

I-94 has ten lanes (five in each direction) from the exit ramps of the Jane Byrne Interchange to the Stevenson Expressway. It then splits into a 14-lane freeway on the Dan Ryan, with three and four lanes alternating between the local and express lanes in both directions. At the Chicago Skyway, a two-lane ramp carries traffic to I-90, leaving ten lanes (five in each direction) running south to the I-57/I-94 junction.

From I-57, where I-94 is called the Bishop Ford Freeway, to Cottage Grove Avenue, the route has four lanes (two lanes each way), with six lanes (three lanes each way) between Michigan Avenue and Cottage Grove Avenue. The freeway connection ramp to Stony Island Avenue has four lanes (two in each direction). I-94 then has six lanes (three in each direction) south to I-80, where it departs the Bishop Ford Freeway (which continues south as IL 394) for the Kingerly Expressway. On these ramps to and from I-80, I-94 has two lanes in each direction. On the Kingerly itself, the combined I-80/I-94 route widens to eight lanes (four in each direction) to the Indiana state line.

The section including the Southland Interchange with I-80 and I-294 was reconfigured as part of the Kingery Expressway reconstruction project, completed in 2007, including four lanes south of 159th Street, with the split between I-80 and 94 east to the left, and I-80 west, I-294 north, and IL 394 south on the right located north of the 170th Street overpass. The configuration of I-80 and I-94 is discussed in connection with the Kingery Expressway.

History

I-494 (and later I-694) was originally planned to serve as a loop in Chicago and follow Lake Shore Drive along Lake Michigan. After local opposition prevented I-494 and I-694 from being completed, both numbers were completely dropped. Portions of the old I-494/I-694 exist as US 41 (Lake Shore Drive) and the Ohio Street connector. In addition, I-494 was also planned at one point to be a western bypass of Chicago, as the Crosstown Expressway.

In 1998, the Illinois Tollway removed the entire Deerfield Toll Plaza north of the I-294/I-94 merge point, then considered one of the worst snags on the tollway system. It was replaced with the Huehl Road Toll Plaza on the Edens Spur to charge traffic that followed I-94 into Chicago. Tolls were removed from the northbound exit/southbound entrance to I-294 at Lake Cook Road, while tolls at the Waukegan Toll Plaza were increased, and additional toll plazas were built on exits south of Deerfield at Lake–Cook Road, Willow Road and Golf Road (Illinois Route 58, IL 58). Toll collection facilities were also added to entrance ramps to northbound I-94 at those points.

The Edens Expressway section of I-94 was last rehabilitated from 1978 through 1980.[3] From 2007 to 2009, I-94 was widened from six to eight lanes between IL 173 (Rosecrans Road) and IL 22 (Half Day Road).[4]

In 1996, the Calumet Expressway was renamed in honor of Bishop Louis Henry Ford, the leader of the Church of God In Christ who had died the previous year.[5]

On April 4, 2008, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) closed one lane in each direction for the entire length of the freeway. The closures lasted until August 2008, occurred in advance of patching and resurfacing of the mainline. In addition, the $42.8 million project was to rehabilitate six bridges and improve drainage at four underpasses.[6]

The Calumet Expressway was originally an extension of Doty Avenue. There were traffic lights at the intersections of Doty with 111th, 115th, and 130th, but interchanges were built in the early 1960s. The expressway was originally designated as IL 1, Alternate US 30, and certain portions as US 6 and IL 83, but IL 1 returned to Halsted Street, and US 6 and IL 83 were routed onto Torrence Avenue. In 1962, the connection between the Calumet Expressway and Dan Ryan Expressway opened, and is now signed as part of the Bishop Ford.

In 2006–07, the portion south of 159th Street was reconstructed as part of the Kingery Expressway-Southland Interchange project. The section between 159th Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. drive was rehabilitated and resurfaced in Summer and Fall 2009.[7]

Exit list

CountyLocationmi[1]kmExit[1]DestinationsNotes
LakeNewport Township0.000.00 I-41 north / I-94 west / US 41 north MilwaukeeContinuation into Wisconsin
0.560.901A CR A1 (Russell Road)Signed as exit 1 northbound
0.961.541B I-41 ends / US 41 south (Skokie Highway)Eastern end of I-41 overlap; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Zion2.363.802 IL 173 (Rosencrans Road)Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Wadsworth4.907.89Waukegan Toll Plaza
Gurnee8.4813.658 IL 132 (Grand Avenue)
10.2116.4310 IL 21 (Milwaukee Avenue)Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
11.2318.0711 IL 120 (Belvidere Road)Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
North Chicago13.8522.2913 IL 137 (Buckley Road)
Libertyville16.1125.9316 IL 176 (Rockland Road)Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Lake Forest18.0729.08Lake Forest Oasis
19.0330.6319 IL 60 (Town Line Road)
Lincolnshire21.8835.2121 IL 22 (Half Day Road)
Deerfield24.3139.1224Deerfield Road
LakeCook
county line
DeerfieldNorthbrook
city line
25.3240.7525Lake Cook RoadEastbound exit and westbound entrance; via I-294
24.91–
25.58
40.09–
41.17
I-294 south (Tri-State Tollway) Indiana, O'HareEastbound exit and westbound entrance
CookNorthbrook26.4442.55Edens Spur Toll Plaza[8]
27.8444.80 IL 43 (Waukegan Road)Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
29.9648.2229 US 41 north (Skokie Highway)Western end of US 41 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
30.2348.6530 IL 68 west (Dundee Road)Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 30A (west) and 30B (east)
Northfield31.9251.3731Tower RoadEastbound exit and westbound entrance
33.0453.1733Willow RoadWestbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 33A (west) and 33B (east)
Wilmette33.9554.6434A US 41 south (Skokie Road)Eastern end of US 41 overlap; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
34.5855.6534B‑CLake AvenueWestbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 34B (west) and 34C (east)
Skokie35.8457.6835Old Orchard Road
37.3860.1637 IL 58 (Dempster Street)Signed to Northwestern University
SkokieLincolnwood
city line
39.8764.1639Touhy AvenueSigned as exits 39A (west) and 37B (east via Cicero Avenue)
Chicago41.3766.5841 US 14 (Peterson Avenue east / Caldwell Avenue west)Signed as exits 41A (west) and 41B (east; westbound exit and eastbound entrance)
41.9167.4541C IL 50 south (Cicero Avenue)Eastbound exit
42.4968.3842Foster AvenueWestbound exit and entrance; eastbound entrance via Elston Ave
43.2569.6043AWilson Avenue
43.26–
43.37
69.62–
69.80
43B I-90 west (Kennedy Expressway) Rockford, O'HareWestern end of I-90 concurrency; westbound exit and eastbound entrance; western end of reversible express lanes
43.5570.0943CMontrose AvenueWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
43.8170.5143DKostner AvenueWestbound exit
44.17–
44.40
71.08–
71.45
44A IL 19 (Irving Park Road) / Keeler AvenueEastbound exit and entrance; westbound entrance
44.40–
44.59
71.45–
71.76
44B IL 19 (Irving Park Road) / Pulaski RoadWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
45.1272.6145AAddison Street
45.5573.3145BKimball Avenue
45.8673.8045CBelmont AvenueWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
46.4274.71Sacramento AvenueEastbound entrance
46.5774.9546ACalifornia AvenueEastbound exit and westbound entrance
46.7475.2246BDiversey AvenueWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
47.31–
47.68
76.14–
76.73
47AWestern Avenue, Fullerton AvenueWestbound exit and eastbound entrance via Western Avenue
47.8677.0247BDamen AvenueWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
48.3077.7348AArmitage Avenue
48.8878.6648B IL 64 (North Avenue)
49.4479.5749ADivision Street
49.6979.9749BAugusta Boulevard, Milwaukee AvenueWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
50.1880.7650AOgden AvenueEastbound exit and westbound entrance
50.4081.1150BOhio StreetEastern end of reversible express lanes via Ohio St / Ontario St
50.9782.0351ALake StreetWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
51.0582.1651BRandolph Street west
51.1282.2751CWashington Boulevard eastEastbound and westbound exit
51.2282.4351DMadison Street
51.3182.5851EMonroe StreetEastbound exit
51.4082.7251FAdams Street westEastbound exit and westbound entrance
51.4982.8751GJackson Boulevard eastEastbound exit and westbound entrance
51.50–
52.13
82.88–
83.90
51H
51I

I-290 / IL 110 (CKC) west (Eisenhower Expressway) – West Suburbs
Congress Parkway Chicago Loop
Circle Interchange; eastern terminus of Kennedy Expressway; western terminus of Dan Ryan Expressway; signed as exits 51H (west) and 51I (east)
52.2084.0152ATaylor Street, Roosevelt RoadEastbound exit and westbound entrance
52.3584.2552BRoosevelt Road, Taylor StreetWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
53.0085.3052C18th StreetEastbound exit and westbound entrance
53.00–
54.82
85.30–
88.22
53B
53C
I-55 south (Stevenson Expressway) St. Louis
I-55 north (Stevenson Expressway) / Lake Shore Drive, Cermak Road Chinatown
Signed as exits 53B (south) and 53C (north) westbound; Cermak Road access from westbound only; western end of express lanes
53.2685.7153ACanalport Avenue, Cermak RoadWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
54.9488.425431st Street
55.2388.8855A35th StreetU.S. Cellular Field, Illinois Institute of Technology
55.7689.7455BPershing Road
56.2290.4856A43rd Street
56.7591.3356B47th Street
57.6692.7957Garfield Boulevard
58.2893.7958A59th StreetWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
58.7894.6058B63rd StreetEastbound exit and westbound entrance
58.78–
59.11
94.60–
95.13
59A I-90 east / Chicago Skyway east to Indiana Toll RoadEastern terminus of I-90 concurrency; eastern end of express lanes
59.3695.5359BMarquette Road, 67th StreetWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
59.8796.3559C71st Street
60.3797.1660A75th StreetEastbound exit and westbound entrance
60.4897.3360B76th StreetWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
60.8697.9460C79th Street
61.3698.7561A83rd StreetEastbound exit and westbound entrance
61.8799.5761B87th Street
62.87101.1862 US 12 / US 20 (95th Street)Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
62.87–
63.88
101.18–
102.80
63 I-57 south MemphisEastbound exit and westbound entrance; eastern terminus of Dan Ryan Expressway; western terminus of Bishop Ford Freeway
64.53103.8565Stony Island Avenue to 95th and 103rd StreetsEastbound exit and westbound entrance
65.73105.78103rd Street, Stony Island AvenueWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
66.18106.5166A111th StreetAccess to Pullman Historic District
66.73107.3966B115th Street
68.67110.5168130th Street Illinois International PortSigned as exits 68A (west) and 68B (east)
69.76112.2769Beaubien Woods Forest PreserveEastbound exit and westbound entrance
Calumet City70.62113.6570Dolton AvenueEastbound exits; westbound entrances; signed as exits 70A (west) and 70B (east)
71.42114.9471 IL 83 (Sibley Boulevard)Signed as exits 71A (west) and 71B (east)
South Holland72.96117.4273 US 6 (159th Street)Signed as exits 73A (west) and 73B (east)
73.97–
74.89
119.04–
120.52
74 IL 394 south Danville
I-80 west / I-294 north (Tri-State Tollway) Iowa, Wisconsin
Western terminus of I-80 concurrency; eastern terminus of Bishop Ford Freeway; western terminus of Kingery Expressway; signed as exits 74A (IL 394) and 74B (I-80 / I-294)
Lansing75.62121.70161 US 6 west / IL 83 (Torrence Avenue)Western terminus of US 6 concurrency
77.41124.58 I-80 east / I-94 east / US 6 east Indiana, Detroit, ToledoContinuation into Indiana
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Notes

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 Illinois Technology Transfer Center (2006). "T2 GIS Data". Retrieved November 8, 2007.
    2. Hilkevitch, Jon (October 19, 2009). "Illinois Tollways: New Markers to Be Posted Every Quarter-mile instead of Half-mile". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
    3. Hilkevitch, John (March 26, 2006). "Buckle up, it looks like a long ride". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 26, 2006.
    4. "North Tri-State Tollway (I-294/94) Rebuild and Widen Project". Illinois Tollway Authority. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
    5. Varon, Ron (February 17, 2012). "Interstate Identities: Kingery, Bishop Ford, Edens". ABC 7 News. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
    6. Claffey, Mike; Kollias, Marisa (March 31, 2008). "IDOT: Edens/I-94 Rehab Project Will Close One Lane In Each Direction Until Late Summer" (Press release). Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
    7. http://www.dot.il.gov/bishopford/default.html
    8. System Map (Map). Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. November 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
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    Interstate 94
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