Borman Expressway


Frank Borman Expressway
Route information
Maintained by INDOT
Length: 15.46 mi[1] (24.88 km)
Major junctions
West end: I-80 / I-94 / US 6 Kingery Expressway near Munster
  I-65 in Gary
East end: I-94 / I-80 / I-90 / Ind. Toll Rd. in Lake Station
Location
Counties: Lake
Highway system
Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Main • Auxiliary • Business

United States Numbered Highways
List • Bannered • Divided • Replaced

Indiana roads
Interstates • U.S. Routes • State Roads • Former

The Frank Borman Expressway is an east–west highway in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Indiana, named after astronaut and former Eastern Airlines CEO Frank Borman. The expressway consists of parts of Interstate 80 (I-80), I-94, and U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), as well as a short section of US 41. The designation begins from the Illinois state line east to the Lake–Porter county line, just east of the junction with the Indiana Toll Road. The expressway has been identified in federal transportation legislation as part of High Priority Corridor 18, Segment 27, making current and future construction projects on I-94 eligible for federal funding in association with extending Interstate 69 to the Texas–Mexico border.

The Borman Expressway is a major truck thoroughfare, providing a free alternative to the Indiana Toll Road and Chicago Skyway to the north. Originally constructed in segments starting in the 1950s, with its Illinois counterpart, the Kingery Expressway, reconstruction of the expressway began in 2004.[2] Flooding in 2007 and 2008 caused road closures, but measures are in place to prevent future occurrences.

Contents

Route description

The designation of the expressway begins at the state line, where the Kingery Expressway becomes the Borman. It has interchanges with 11 roads, such as US 41, State Road 912 (SR 912, Cline Avenue, and I-65. At the Indiana Toll Road, I-80 turns eastward. The highway after the Toll Road, now designated solely as I-94, continues eastward towards Michigan City and Detroit.[1] Detroit is the control city going eastward on I-94, from the Indiana–Illinois border all the way through Michigan.

History

The expressway now known as the Borman was originally known as the Tri-State Highway, and construction of the expressway began in 1949.[3] The designation went through the Kingery Expressway, and eventually linked with the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois.[4] It was originally designated SR 420 in Indiana.[5] US 6 diverged at Calumet Avenue south, and ran on Calumet Avenue and Ridge Road.[6]

At various times, the expressway was extended from Indianapolis Boulevard to Burr Street, then to Georgia Street east of Broadway, and eventually to the Toll Road.[4] Some time after the enactment of the Interstate Highway System, the expressway was designated as I-80, I-90, and I-294, and the I-94 designation was applied to the Toll Road west of where the current interchange with the Borman was eventually built.[6][7] The expressways were renumbered around 1965, to avoid the implication that through drivers must change roads to stay on I-90 or I-94, resulting in the Borman becoming I-80/I-94. US 6 was extended to Ripley Street at that time, and I-294 was cut back to the Tri-State Tollway. The Borman Expressway is named after Frank Borman, commander of the Apollo 8 space mission, who was born in Gary.[8]

Reconstruction

Reconstruction of the Borman commenced in 2004.[2] The reconstruction of both the Kingery and the Borman aimed to significanly reduce the delays encountered on the highway. The reconstructed portion of the Borman is eight lanes wide, with additional collector-distributor lanes between interchanges. Construction between the Illinois state line and exit 11 (I-65 south ramp to Indianapolis) was completed in 2007. The Interstate 65 Interchange Modification Project continueed into 2009, including replacing the pavement of the Borman to Central Avenue.[9]

The Borman and Cline Avenue interchange is a partial cloverleaf interchange. Two flyover ramps allow southbound Cline Avenue traffic to merge onto the eastbound Borman Expressway, and northbound Cline Avenue traffic to merge onto the westbound Borman. The remaining ramps utilize the cloverleaf design.[10]

Flooding

On Saturday, September 13, 2008, at approximately 9:00 a.m. CDT, all lanes of the Borman Expressway in both directions at Kennedy Avenue in Hammond were closed by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and the Indiana State Police due to severe flooding from the Little Calumet River. A levee breach, thanks to torrential rains from the remnants of Hurricane Ike, reportedly caused water from the river to cascade across all lanes to a depth of nearly five feet under the Kennedy Avenue overpass. The expressway remained shutdown in both directions until the following Wednesday, September 17, 2008. There had also been flooding in August 2007 and various measures have been undertaken to prevent furure occurrences.[11]

Exit list

The entire route is in Lake County.

Location Mile[12] Exit Destinations Notes
Hammond 0.00 I-94 west / I-80 west / US 6 west – Chicago Illinois state line
0.87 1 US 41 north (Calumet Avenue) – Hammond, Munster Western end of US 41 concurrency
2.39 2 US 41 south / SR 152 north (Indianapolis Boulevard) – Hammond, Highland Eastern end of US 41 concurrency; serves Purdue University Calumet
3.35 3 Kennedy Avenue Serves Visitors' Center
Gary 4.92 5 SR 912 (Cline Avenue) – East Chicago, Griffith Serves Gary/Chicago International Airport
6.44 6 Burr Street
8.96 9 Grant Street
9.92 10 SR 53 (Broadway) Serves Indiana University Northwest
11.01–
11.80		 11
12		 I-65 to Ind. Toll Rd. – Indianapolis Signed as exits 11 (south) and 12 (north) eastbound and exits 12A (south) and 12B (north) westbound; freeway narrows from 4 to 3 lanes
Lake Station 12.68 13 Central Avenue Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
15.00 15 US 6 east / SR 51 to US 20 (Ripley Street) Eastern end of US 6 concurrency; signed as exits 15A (south/east) and 15B (north); westbound exit 15B is part of exit 16
15.51 16 I-94 east / I-80 east / I-90 / Ind. Toll Rd. Eastern end of I-80 concurrency; eastern terminus of Borman Expressway; road continues east as I-94
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
     Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

References

  1. ^ a b Google, Inc. Google Maps – Borman Expressway (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=Portage,+Indiana&daddr=Lansing,+Illinois&layer=&sll=41.58258,-87.228012&sspn=0.087827,0.160675&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=12&ll=41.576159,-87.377014&spn=0.175672,0.32135. Retrieved April 16, 2007. 
  2. ^ a b Staff. "Time Line". Borman Expressway Reconstruction Project. Indiana Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on March 28, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070328060356/http://www.state.in.us/dot/div/specialprojects/borman/about/time.html. Retrieved April 16, 2007. 
  3. ^ Staff. "City of Hammond History". City of Hammond, Indiana. http://www.hammondindiana.com/history2.htm. Retrieved April 16, 2007. 
  4. ^ a b Benman, Keith (April 1, 2007). "Region's first free expressway built in 'another time' ". The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster, IN). http://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinion/article_0b17bc6c-6474-53aa-8f61-fa22b1125be4.html. Retrieved April 3, 2007. 
  5. ^ Staff. "Facts & Photos". Indiana Department of Transportation. http://www.in.gov/indot/2337.htm. Retrieved August 3, 2011. 
  6. ^ a b Indiana State Highway Department (1963). Official Indiana State Map (Map). Cartography by ISHD (1963–64 ed.). http://highwayexplorer.com/showScannedMap.php?id=278. Retrieved April 16, 2007. 
  7. ^ DX Oil. Dimapco Indiana State Map (Map). Cartography by Dimapco (1960s ed.). http://highwayexplorer.com/showScannedMap.php?id=95. Retrieved April 16, 2007. 
  8. ^ Staff. "Frank Borman". Borman Expressway Reconstruction Project. Indiana Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on March 28, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070328134505/http://www.in.gov/dot/div/specialprojects/borman/about/frank.html. Retrieved March 18, 2007. 
  9. ^ Staff. "About the Borman Expressway Reconstruction Project". Borman Expressway Reconstruction Project. Indiana Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on March 27, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070327105750/http://www.state.in.us/dot/div/specialprojects/borman/about/about.html. Retrieved April 16, 2007. 
  10. ^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – Borman Expressway at Cline Avenue (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=29.496064,59.765625&ie=UTF8&ll=41.570316,-87.432289&spn=0.013581,0.029182&z=15. Retrieved March 22, 2008. 
  11. ^ Benman, Keith (August 12, 2009). "Borman to get flood fix at Kennedy". The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster, IN). http://nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/article_6f098a06-dd1b-5102-ab5d-1339411b5dd1.html. Retrieved January 23, 2010. 
  12. ^ Staff. "INDOT Roadway Referencing System" (PDF). Indiana Department of Transportation. http://www.in.gov/indot/files/StateWide_2004.pdf. Retrieved December 14, 2010. 

External links