Interstate 294
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| Interstate 294 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System |
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| Length: | 53.42 mi[1] (85.97 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1957 | ||||||||
| South end: |    I-80/94/IL 394 in South Holland |
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| Major junctions: |
I-80 in Hazel Crest I-55 in Indian Head Park I-88 in Hillside I-290 in Berkeley/Elmhurst I-190 in Chicago I-90 in Rosemont |
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| North end: | I-94 in Deerfield |
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Interstate 294 (abbreviated I-294) is part of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois. It goes from Deerfield at Interstate 94 to South Holland at Interstates 80 and 94, and Illinois Route 394 near the Illinois/Indiana state line. Interstate 294 is 53.42 miles (85.97 km) long; 5.32 mi (8.56 km) are with I-80.[1]
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[edit] Route description
Interstate 294 has four of the Tri-State Tollway's five mainline barriers. These are located at:
- 163rd Street
- 82nd/83rd Streets
- 22nd Street (Cermak Road)
- Irving Park Road (Illinois Route 19) Southbound; Touhy Ave. Northbound
The fifth is on I-94 by Waukegan.
Interstate 294 is generally 6 lanes wide between I-94 at Deerfield and I-90 by O'Hare. From O'Hare to U.S. 12/U.S. 20 (95th Street), the road is 8 lanes wide. As of 2005, the remainder of the tollway is 6 lanes wide, being expanded to 8 by 2008.
The tollway used to be regarded as an alternate route to avoid downtown Chicago and its associated traffic, but over the last few decades it has been used more by commuters traveling from suburb to suburb.
[edit] History
The portion of the Borman Expressway that was completed from Gary westward and the Kingery Expressway were designated as I-80, 90, and 294, from some time after the Interstate Highway program was enacted until about 1965, when the connection between the Borman and the Indiana Toll Road was completed, and I-90 was swapped with I-94 west of that junction, cutting back I-294 to its current south terminus. Later, Indiana wanted to extend Interstate 294 east on the current Borman Expressway to Indiana State Route 912, before having it turn north at that point, west at U.S. Highway 12, and then back to I-94, most likely somewhere on the Bishop Ford Expressway near 130th Street. The request was denied.
The I-80, I-294 portion of the Tollway is being widened in conjunction with similar projects on the Borman and Kingery.
Interstate 294 was built largely before the growth and maturation of the suburbs that run along Interstate 294. As a result, the vast majority of the interchanges are partial, or were configured to have entrance ramps feeding the toll plazas. "Gaps" between exit ramps are common, the 9.5 mile (15.3 kilometer) gap between Cicero Avenue (Illinois 50/83) and 95th Street (U.S. 12/20) being one of the more notable ones. Partial interchanges are located at Roosevelt Road (Illinois 38) (southbound exit, northbound entrance), Irving Park Road (Illinois 19) (southbound exit, northbound entrance), Touhy Avenue (northbound exit, southbound entrance), Dempster Street (U.S. 14) (northbound exit, southbound entrance), and Golf Road (Illinois 58) (southbound exit, northbound entrance). Several former partial interchanges have been converted to full interchanges, with automated toll collection facilities on the new ramps, such as at 159th Street (U.S. 6) (northbound on and southbound off added), and 95th Street (U.S. 12/20) (southbound on and northbound off added). The 79th Street exit was moved to 75th Street/Willow Springs Road, and made a complete interchange in the same manner.
[edit] Future
As of 2007, Interstate 294 has no interchange on Interstate 57, although one is being considered. Plans for the interchange are currently at PE 1, or preliminary engineering, but have been repeatedly put on hold due to insufficient funding since 1993. In 2006, a consortium of south suburbs again pushed the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Tollway Authority to construct the interchange, whose construction costs are now estimated at between $235 million and $250 million USD.[2]
[edit] Exit list
See Tri-State Tollway for all exits on Interstate 294.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Federal Highway Administration (2002-10-31). FHWA Route Log and Finder List: Table 1. Retrieved on March 28, 2007.
- ^ Ziemba, Stanley. "South suburbs join to make a connection", Chicago Tribune, 2006-05-09. Retrieved on May 9, 2006.
[edit] External resources
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Auxiliary routes of Interstate 94 | |
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