Illinois Route 1

Route information

Maintained by IDOT

Length:

325.19 mi^[2] (523.34 km)

Existed:

1918^[1] – present

Major junctions

South end:

KY 91 via Ohio River ferry at Cave-In-Rock

North end:

I-57 in Chicago

Location

Counties:

Champaign, Clark, Cook, Crawford, Edgar, Edwards, Gallatin, Hardin, Iroquois, Lawrence, Vermilion, Wabash, White, Will

Highway system

Illinois state highway system
Illinois Tollway system

← I-474

IL 2 →

Illinois Route 1 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Illinois. Running parallel to the Indiana border, it is also the longest state road, starting on the south side of Chicago as Halsted Street at the intersection with 95th Street, south to a free ferry crossing to Kentucky at Cave-In-Rock on the Ohio River. This is a distance of 325.19 miles (523.34 km).^[2]

1 History
2 Route description
3 Dixie Highway
4 Major intersections
5 External links
6 References

History

Illinois 1 was commissioned in 1918 as SBI Route 1. The original route had extended further along the northern end into Chicago along Vincennes Avenue and Michigan Avenue, and on the southern end from Norris City to Metropolis.

When U.S. Highway 45 was established from Norris City to Metropolis, Illinois 1 shifted east to Cave-In-Rock. Kentucky State Route 91 continues across the Ohio River.

In 1937, Illinois 1 was shifted southeast away from Albion to directly connect Mount Carmel and Grayville. Eventually, Illinois Route 15 and Illinois Route 130 replaced Illinois 1 to Albion.

In the 1950s, a freeway, then known as the Calumet Expressway, was constructed south from Chicago. This was designated Illinois 1, while the old highway along Halsted Street was signed Alternate Illinois Route 1. By 1964, Illinois 1 was restored to its old alignment, and Illinois Route 394 was applied to the expressway south of the portion designated as Interstate 94 (the I-94 portion now being known as the Bishop Ford Freeway). At this time, Illinois 1 was discontinued north of Interstate 57.

Route description

Illinois 1 starts in the river town of Cave In Rock, Illinois, near the Ohio River. It passes through the hills of southern Illinois, and intersects US 45 in Norris City. From there, it continues northeast through Carmi, Grayville, and Mount Carmel, and makes another direction change to the north. After passing through Lawrenceville, Illinois 1 does not pass through many towns for the next 50 miles until it reaches Marshall, although it does come close to Robinson. The road then runs through Paris, where it begins a multiplex with US 150. At Danville, US 150 splits off towards Champaign and US 136 follows Illinois 1 north for about 12 miles. Illinois 1 is more of a major route north of Danville, since it connects Danville with the Chicago area. Illinois 1 runs in a relatively north direction north of Danville, passing through Hoopeston and Danville before reaching the outskirts of Kankakee. Illinois 1 then zigzags through Momence and Grant Park along with Illinois 17. At Goodenow, a lot of traffic merges onto Illinois 394, while most of the local traffic stays on Illinois 1. Illinois 394 eventually turns into I-94 in the southern suburbs. From Goodenow, Illinois 1 runs through numerous Chicago suburbs such as Chicago Heights and Harvey before ending at Interstate 57 on Chicago's south side.

Dixie Highway

Most of Route 1 north of Danville was part of the western division of the Dixie Highway, which goes through downstate Illinois and enters the Chicago area as it passes through Beecher. From here it follows the Vincennes Trail north and splits into the Bishop Ford Freeway (formerly the Calumet Expressway) and Chicago Road (which was one of the original roads into Chicago from the south) The Dixie Highway follows Chicago Road through Crete, Steger, South Chicago Heights, (at which point it meets up with the Sauk Trail.

As Route 1 continues north, it has a junction with Lincoln Highway (US 30). This is sometimes known as the "Crossroads of the Nation", because it is the intersection of two major auto trails. This intersection helped cities such as Chicago Heights thrive in its early days. Approximately two blocks after this intersection, Dixie Highway splits from Chicago Road and continues north through Flossmoor and Homewood. At the north end of Homewood's downtown, the road turns and goes under the Illinois Central Railroad tracks, which now carries both the Metra Electric Line and Amtrak trains. The road continues north through East Hazel Crest and past the Markham Rail Yards and under the Tri-State Tollway.

Past the tollway, the road enters Hazel Crest, Markham and then Harvey. As the road continues, creating a border between the towns of Dixmoor and Posen, its name changes to Western Avenue.

When the road enters Blue Island, it splits into two streets, (Western and Gregory), and realigns itself into one when it reaches Burr Oak Avenue. The road then enters the city of Chicago. Through Chicago, Western Avenue is a major boulevard, which continues north through the city to the town of Evanston (where it is named Asbury Street), which is where the Dixie Highway ends.

Major intersections

County	Location	Junction	Notes
Hardin	Cave-In-Rock	Free Ferry across the Ohio River to KY 91
Hardin	Loves Corner	IL 146 west
Gallatin		IL 13
White/Gallatin		IL 141
White		US 45
	Carmi	IL 14 west	South end of IL 14 overlap
	Crossville	IL 14 east	North end of IL 14 overlap
		I-64 – Mt. Vernon, Evansville	Exit 130
	Edwards	IL 130 north
Wabash	Mt. Carmel	IL 15 east	South end of IL 15 overlap
Wabash	Mt. Carmel	IL 15 west	North end of IL 15 overlap
Lawrence	Lawrenceville	US 50 Bus.
Lawrence	Lawrenceville	US 50 – Olney, Vincennes
Crawford	Gordon	IL 33
Clark	Marshall	US 40
Clark		I-70	Exit 147
Edgar	Paris	US 150 east / IL 16 west / IL 133 west – Charleston, Arcola, Terre Haute	South end of US 150 overlap
Edgar	Chrisman	US 36
Vermilion	Danville	14th Street
		I-74 – Champaign, Indianapolis	Exit 215 A/B
		US 136 east / US 150 west (Main Street) – Urbana	North end of US 150 overlap; South end of US 136 overlap
		US 136 west / IL 119 east	North end of US 136 overlap
	Hoopeston	IL 9 (Orange Street)
Iroquois		US 24 east	South end of US 24 overlap
	Watseka	US 24 west	North end of US 24 overlap
		US 52
Kankakee	Sun River Terrace	IL 17 west – Kankakee	South end of IL 17 overlap
	Momence	IL 114 east
	Grant Park	IL 17 east	North end of IL 17 overlap
Will		IL 394 north (Bishop Ford Freeway)
Cook	Chicago Heights	US 30 / Lincoln Highway
	East Hazel Crest	I-80 / I-294 (Tri-State Tollway) to I-94 – Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin
	Harvey	US 6 (159th Street)
	Harvey	IL 83 (147th Street)
	Chicago	I-57 to I-94
	Chicago	Halsted Street	Continuation beyond I-57
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus • Closed/Former • Incomplete access • Unopened

External links

References

^ Carlson, Rick. Illinois State Highways Page: Routes 1 thru 20. Last updated March 15, 2006. Retrieved March 24, 2006.
^ ^a ^b Illinois Technology Transfer Center. T2 GIS Data. Retrieved April 7, 2006. As documented in Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Roads/Lengths/Illinois.