Interstate 94 in Illinois

Infobox road
state=IL
type=I
route=94
maint=Illinois Department of Transportation

---

length_mi=78.00
length_round=2
length_ref=cite web |author=Illinois Technology Transfer Center |url=http://www.dot.state.il.us/gist2/select.html |title=T2 GIS Data |accessdate=2007-11-08 |date=2006]
year_established=
direction_a=West
terminus_a=Jct|state=WI|I|94 at Wisconsin state line
junction=Jct|state=IL|I|294 in Northbrook
Jct|state=IL|I|55 in Chicago
Jct|state=IL|I|90 in Chicago
Jct|state=IL|I|80 near South Holland, IL
direction_b=East
terminus_b=Jct|state=IN|I|94 at Indiana state line
previous_type=IL
previous_route=93
next_type=IL
next_route=94In the U.S. state of Illinois, Interstate 94 generally runs north-south through the northeastern portion of the state, 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 convert|78.00|mi|km|2 long.

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.

I-94 has 6 lanes (3 in each direction) from the state line to the Illinois Route 22 (Half Day Road). Construction projects have expanded I-94 to 8 lanes from Half Day Road to the Edens Spur, and future construction is expected to widen the road to 8 lanes north to Illinois Route 176 (Rosecrans Road). [cite web|url=http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/pls/portal/url/PAGE/Tollway/TrafficConst/TrafficConst_Projects_Roadway/TrafficConst_Tristate_Projects/TrafficConst_Willow|title=North Tri-State Tollway (I-294/94) Rebuild and Widen Project|publisher=Illinois Tollway Authority |accessdate=2007-07-28] The Edens Spur only has four lanes total (two in each direction).

The highway widens back to six lanes on the Edens Expressway, and to ten lanes (four lanes in each direction + two reversible lanes) along the Kennedy Expressway. At Ohio Street, the reversible lanes terminate and the highway has 10 lanes to Circle Interchange, where the left lane ends and the right lane exits onto the Eisenhower Expressway.

Mileposts along the portion of I-94 that are part of the Tri-State Tollway reflect the distance from the southeastern terminus of the tollway, leading to a counterintuitive "increase" in the mile numbers as one proceeds "west."

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 Interstate 80 on the Kingery Expressway, which finally enters Indiana east of Lansing, Illinois.

I-94 has ten lanes (five in each direction) from the exit ramps of the Circle Interchange to the Stevenson Expressway. It then splits into a 14 lane expressway 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 to Cottage Grove Avenue, I-94 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. On the ramps to and from I-80, I-94 has two lanes in each direction. On I-80 itself, I-94 widens to eight lanes (four in each direction) to the state line.

The section including the Southland Interchange with I-80 and 294 was reconfigured as part of the Kingery Expressway reconstruction project, completed in 2007, including 4 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 Ill. 394 South on the right located north of the 170th St. overpass. The configuration of I-80 and 94 is discussed in connection with the Kingery Expressway.

History

Interstate 494 (and later Interstate 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.

Exit list

Tri-State Tollway

See Tri-State Tollway for exits on the Tri-State Tollway.

Edens Expressway

Kennedy Expressway

See Interstate 90 in Illinois for exits on the Kennedy Expressway.

Dan Ryan Expressway

See Dan Ryan Expressway.

Bishop Ford Freeway

Kingery Expressway

See Interstate 80 in Illinois for exits on the Kingery Expressway.

References