| Interstate 294 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Illinois Tollway | ||||
| Length: | 53.42 mi[1] (85.97 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1957 (completed 1968) – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: | I-80 / I-94 / IL 394 in South Holland | |||
| I-80 in Hazel Crest US 6 in Markham US 12 / US 20 in Bridgeview US 12 / US 20 / US 45 in Hickory Hills I-55 in Burr Ridge US 34 in Hinsdale I-88 in Oak Brook I-290 / US 20 in Berkeley I-190 in Rosemont I-90 in Des Plaines US 14 in Des Plaines |
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| North end: | I-94 in Northbrook | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System Illinois state highway system
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Interstate 294 (I-294) is a tolled Interstate Highway in northeastern Illinois, U.S.A.. It forms the southern portion of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois. I-294 runs from South Holland at Interstates 80 and 94, and Illinois Route 394 to Northbrook at I-94. Interstate 294 is 53.42 miles (85.97 km) long; 5.32 miles (8.56 km) are shared with I-80.[1] It serves as a bypass around the city of Chicago. Interstate 294 is also the longest auxiliary route of Interstate 94, being 10 miles longer than Interstate 494 in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Interstate 294 is also the longest auxiliary interstate highway in Illinois.
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Interstate 294 has four of the Tri-State Tollway's five mainline barriers. These are located at:
The fifth is on I-94 near Waukegan.
The full length of Interstate 294 is 8 lanes wide (4 lanes each direction). Prior to 2006, only the portion between O'Hare (Interstate 90) and 95th Street (U.S. 12/U.S. 20) was 8 lanes, with the remainder being 6 lanes. In 2009, The Illinois Tollway Authority completed reconstruction on the remainder of Interstate 294, expanding the tollway from 6 to 8 lanes from 95th Street to its Southern terminus at the Kingery Expressway, and from Interstate 90 to its Northern terminus at Interstate 94 in Northbrook.
The portion of the Borman Expressway that was completed from Gary westward and the Kingery Expressway were originally designated as I-80, 90, and 294 from shortly 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 (and east of where those routes share the same road in Chicago), cutting back I-294 to its current south terminus (eliminating the Indiana part of I-294). Indiana later proposed 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.
From 1991-1993, the 23 mile portion of Interstate 294 between Interstate 90 and U.S. Route 12/U.S. Route 20 (95th Street) was reconstructed and expanded from 6 to 8 lanes in each direction.[2] In 2006, reconstruction to widen the Southern portion of the tollway, where I-80 and I-294 are multiplexed, was completed in conjunction with simultaneous projects on the Borman and Kingery Expressways, expanding this portion of the tollway from 6 to 8 lanes. By late 2009, additional reconstruction projects on the remainder of the tollway were completed, bringing the entire length of Interstate 294 to 8 lanes wide (4 lanes each direction).
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 Route 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.
As of 2009[update], Interstate 294 has no interchange on Interstate 57, although one is being considered. This is one of the only places that two Interstate Highways cross but do not feature connecting ramps. 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.[3]
The entire route is in Cook County.
| Location | Plaza #[4] |
Mile [1][5] |
Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Holland | 0 | I-80 east / I-94 east – Indiana | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |
| 0 | I-94 west / IL 394 south – Chicago, Danville | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 1 | Chicago Southland Lincoln Oasis | |||
| East Hazel Crest | 47 | 3 | IL 1 (Halsted Street (800 West)) | |
| 4 | Dixie Highway | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| Hazel Crest | 43-45 | 5 | I-80 west to I-57 – Iowa | North end of I-80 overlap |
| 41 | 6 | 163rd Street Toll Plaza | ||
| Markham | 40 | 6.5 | US 6 (159th Street) | |
| Alsip | 12 | IL 50 (Cicero Avenue (4800 West)) / IL 83 (127th Street) | ||
| Hickory Hills | 38 | 17.5 | US 12 (95th Street) / US 20 / 76th Avenue | |
| 39 | 19.5 | 83rd Street Toll Plaza (northbound) | ||
| 36 | 20 | 82nd Street Toll Plaza (southbound) | ||
| Justice | 21 | US 12 / US 20 / US 45 (LaGrange Road) / IL 171 (Archer Avenue) | Southbound entrance only | |
| Mile-Long Bridge over Des Plaines River | ||||
| Hodgkins | 34 | 22 | 75th Street, Willow Springs Road (10800 West) | |
| Indian Head Park | 37 | 23 | I-55 (Stevenson Expressway) – Chicago, St. Louis | No southbound entrance from I-55 south |
| 24 | Wolf Road (11200 West) | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| Hinsdale | 25 | Hinsdale Oasis | ||
| Western Springs | 28 | US 34 (Ogden Avenue) | ||
| Hillside | 29 | I-88 west (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) – Aurora | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| 29.5 | Cermak Road, 22nd Street | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 35 | 30 | Cermak Road Toll Plaza | ||
| 30.5 | IL 38 (Roosevelt Road (1200 South)) | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| 31 | I-88 west (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) – Aurora | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 32 | I-290 east (Eisenhower Expressway) – Chicago | |||
| Berkeley | 34 | I-290 west (Eisenhower Expressway) to US 20 / IL 64 – Rockford | ||
| Franklin Park | 38 | O'Hare Oasis | ||
| 38.5 | IL 19 (Irving Park Road (4000 North)) | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 33 | 39 | Irving Park Toll Plaza (southbound) | ||
| Rosemont | 32 | 40 | I-190 west (Kennedy Expressway) / River Road – O'Hare | |
| 31 | 41 | I-90 (Jane Addams Memorial Tollway, Kennedy Expressway) – Rockford, Chicago | ||
| Park Ridge | 29 | 42 | Touhy Avenue Toll Plaza (northbound) | |
| 42 | Touhy Avenue | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| Des Plaines | 44.5 | US 14 (Dempster Street) | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| 28 | 45 | IL 58 (Golf Road) | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |
| Glenview | 27 | 49 | Willow Road | |
| Northbrook | 24 | 50.5- 53 |
I-94 east (Edens Expressway via Edens Spur) – Chicago | |
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