Interstate 72

Interstate 72
Route information
Length:	179.29 mi[1] (288.54 km)
Existed:	1970 – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 36 / US 36 Bus. / US 61 in Hannibal, MO
	I-172 in Fall Creek, IL US 54 in Griggsville, IL US 67 in Jacksonville, IL I-55 in Springfield, IL US 36 / US 51 in Decatur, IL I-57 in Champaign, IL
East end:	Country Fair Drive in Champaign, IL
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business

Interstate 72 (I-72) is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. Its western terminus is in Hannibal, Missouri, at an intersection with U.S. Route 61; its eastern terminus is at Country Fair Drive in Champaign, Illinois. In 2006, the Illinois General Assembly dedicated all of Interstate 72 as Purple Heart Memorial Highway. The stretch between Springfield and Decatur is also called Penny Severns Memorial Expressway, and the section between Mile 35 and the Mississippi River is known as the Free Frank McWorter Historic Highway.

Route description

I-72 runs for just over 2 miles (3.2 km) in the state of Missouri. Its western terminus is an interchange with U.S. Route 61 to the Mark Twain Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River. This bridge connects the city of Hannibal with Illinois. Presently, there are only two exits for I-72 in Missouri.

I-72 parallels the old Wabash Railroad from Hannibal, MO east through Illinois to Champaign, IL. The Norfolk Southern Railway operates this railroad route today.

In Illinois, I-72 runs for 182 miles (293 km). The portion of I-72 and I-172 from Springfield to Quincy is commonly referred to as the Central Illinois Expressway (CIE). As of 2007, I-72 has one business route -- Business Loop 72 in Jacksonville.

Near Valley City at mile marker 42 are the Valley City Eagle Bridges. These two individual two-lane spans bridge the Illinois River in rural west-central Illinois. Near mile marker 78, a sign marks 90 degrees longitude.

At its eastern terminus in Champaign, I-72 continues as Church Street (westbound) and University Avenue (eastbound), which stay as one-way streets for an additional 3 miles (4.8 km) into downtown Champaign.

History

A section of I-72, north of Seymour, Illinois, looking west

Until the mid-1990s, I-72 ran from Springfield at Interstate 55 to Champaign at Interstate 57. On June 9, 1991, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved the establishment of Interstate 172 from the western terminus of I-72 at Springfield to Fall Creek, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Hannibal, Missouri, though it was contingent on Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approval. The FHWA preferred to designate the route I-72.^[2][3]

After discussions regarding extending an Interstate-standard highway through the state of Missouri, on April 22, 1995, AASTHO approved another renumbering. I-172 was renumbered in its entirety as I-72. The U.S. 36 extension west of Fall Creek was also given the I-72 designation. The Illinois Route 336 expressway was renumbered to I-172 from Fall Creek to Fowler.^[3][4]

Prior to September 2000, Mark Twain Avenue (old US 36) was composed of the current Mark Twain Avenue (now Route 79) and the portion of I-72 and US 36 west of Exit 157 to the Hannibal city limits. Route 79 terminated at the foot of the old Mark Twain Memorial Bridge at the corner of Third Street and Mark Twain Avenue. Signs along the four-lane expressway portion of Mark Twain Avenue marked the route as "Future I-72", while signs along what is now Route 79 had I-72 trailblazers to direct drivers to the temporary terminus at Fall Creek, Illinois.

When the new Mark Twain Memorial Bridge was completed in September 2000, I-72 was routed over the new bridge, along with US 36. Route 79 was extended along Mark Twain Avenue to terminate at Exit 157. The portion of I-72 and US 36 west of Exit 157 is now referred to as the V.F.W. Memorial Highway.

Originally, I-72 opened with a posted speed limit of 65 mph (105 km/h). However, when it first opened, some drivers were confused and were driving it at 35 mph (56 km/h), the old posted speed limit on Mark Twain Avenue. Later, Hannibal convinced MoDOT to lower the speed limit along I-72 and US 36 within the Hannibal city limits to 55 mph (89 km/h).

Chicago-Kansas City expressway

The concept of I-72 across Missouri was to create the Chicago – Kansas City Expressway, a rural four-lane highway across northern Missouri and west central Illinois from Cameron, Missouri at I-35 to Springfield, Illinois at I-55. This would provide a series of rural 4-lane highways (I-35, US 36, I-72, and I-55) connecting Chicago to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Corridor (High Priority Corridor 23). This would reduce the amount of through traffic, primarily truck traffic, in the St. Louis, Des Moines, and Quad Cities metropolitan areas by serving as an alternate route for I-70 and I-80. The Missouri portion of this route is designated as part of High Priority Corridor 61.

Based on the 157-mile (253 km) marker at Route 79, when US 36 is upgraded to Interstate standards across Missouri, the future western terminus of I-72 would be at Cameron, Missouri at the intersection with I-35. Currently, the west end of I-72 route is west of US 61 and flows concurrent with US 36 into Illinois. In 2004, US 36 was upgraded to a 4-lane expressway between US 61 and US 24 at the Rocket Junction (7 miles). There are three exits along this expressway: Veterans Road, Shinn Lane (Hannibal Regional Hospital), and US 24 East (Future Hannibal Bypass) at the Rocket Junction. This expressway is up to interstate standards (completed August 2007). Also, an interchange with Route 15 was installed in Shelbina. At Clarence, US 36 resumes 4-lane expressway status.

Due to funding priorities, upgrading US 36 between Macon and Hannibal was a low-priority project and was officially tabled by MoDOT. MoDOT committed to constructing the four-lane highway as a non-interstate expressway only if the five counties served by US 36 east of Macon would contribute half of the $100 million cost.

Four-lane construction

The first proposition of the expressway construction, Proposition 36, was passed by a majority of the voters in Macon, Marion, Monroe, and Shelby counties. However, residents of Ralls County rejected the proposition, citing lack of economic benefit for the county. US 36 cuts through the very northwest corner of Ralls County from Monroe City to the BNSF viaduct, a distance of 4 miles (6.4 km). Since the proposition failed in Ralls County, the entire proposition failed.

Businesses and voters in the other four counties still strongly supported the four-lane expressway project. At the next election, on August 3, 2005, voters of all five counties approved Proposition 36B, which excludes Ralls County from the Transportation Development District and allows for the construction of a 4-lane US 36 to be constructed without Ralls County's participation. The Proposition passed 66 percent to 34 percent and passed by a majority in all 5 counties.

In March 2008, the revised total cost of the project was estimated at $89 million.^[5] Additionally:

• A fifteen year, 1/2-cent sales tax was levied in Macon, Marion, Monroe, and Shelby counties for their portion (42%) of the construction costs for the project.
• The Ralls County portion was covered by a $7 million earmark for US 36 from Congressman Kenny Hulshof.
• The remainder of the project costs, including construction, engineering, right of way acquisition, survey, etc. were funded by MoDOT.

Road construction to complete the 52.4 miles (84.3 km) between Hannibal and Macon began in 2007. According to MoDOT, the estimated completion date of four lanes from Hannibal to Monroe City, 11.5 mi (18.5 km), was September 2008, from Monroe City to Shelbina, 18.4 mi (29.6 km), was December 2009, and from Shelbina to Macon, 22.5 mi (36.2 km), was December 2010.

In August 2010, the 4-lane expressway was completed from Macon to Hannibal, completing Missouri's portion of the Chicago-Kansas City Expressway.^[6]

Exit list

State	County	Location	Mile[7]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Missouri	Marion	Hannibal	0.000	0.000		US 36 / Route 110 west – Monroe City	Continuation beyond US 36 Bus. / US 61
			0.184	0.296	–	US 36 Bus. east / US 61 (McMasters Avenue) – New London, Palmyra	West end of US 61 Bus. overlap
			1.226	1.973	157	US 36 Bus. west / US 61 Bus. south / Route 79 south / Route N north – Downtown Hannibal, Louisiana	East end of US 61 Bus. overlap
Mississippi River			2.056 0.0	3.309 0.0	Mark Twain Memorial Bridge
Illinois	Pike	Levee Township	1	2	1	IL 106 – Hull
			4	6	4	I-172 north / IL 110 east – Quincy	Left exit, signed as exit 4 eastbound and 4A westbound, east end of IL 110 overlap
		Kinderhook Township	10	16	10	IL 96 / IL 106 – Payson, Hull
		Barry	20	32	20	To IL 106 – Barry
		New Salem Township	31	50	31	Pittsfield, New Salem
		Griggsville Township	35	56	35	US 54 / IL 107 – Pittsfield, Griggsville
	Scott	Bloomfield Precinct	46	74	46	IL 100 – Bluffs, Detroit	Detroit signed westbound only
		Winchester No. 2 Precinct	52	84	52	To IL 106 – Winchester
	Morgan	Lynnville Precinct	60	97	60	I-72 Bus. east / US 67 – Alton, Beardstown, Jacksonville	Signed as exits 60A (south) and 60B (north)
		South Jacksonville	64	103	64	IL 267 – Alton, Jacksonville
		Pisgah Precinct	68	109	68	I-72 Bus. west to IL 104 – Jacksonville
		Alexander Precinct	76	122	76	Ashland, Alexander
	Sangamon	Island Grove / New Berlin township line	82	132	82	New Berlin
		Springfield	91	146	91	Wabash Avenue – Springfield, Loami
			93	150	93	IL 4 – Springfield, Chatham
			96	154	96	MacArthur Blvd – Springfield
			97	156	92 97	I-55 south / I-55 Bus. north (6th Street) – Springfield, St. Louis	West end of I-55 overlap; signed as exits 97A (south) and 97B (north) eastbound. Signed as exit 92A (north) westbound. I-72 westbound exits I-55 via exit 92B.
			99	159	94	Stevenson Drive, East Lake Drive
			101	163	96	IL 29 (South Grand Avenue) – Taylorville	Signed as exits 96A (south) and 96B (north)
			103	166	98 103	I-55 north – Chicago IL 97 west (Clear Lake Avenue)	East end of I-55 overlap; I-72 eastbound exits I-55 via exit 98A, I-72 westbound exits itself via exit 103A. IL 97 signed as exit 98B eastbound. Northbound I-55 signed as exit 103B westbound.
		Clear Lake Township	104	167	104	Camp Butler
			108	174	108	Riverton, Dawson	Dawson signed eastbound only
		Mechanicsburg Township	114	183	114	Buffalo, Mechanicsburg, Dawson	Dawson signed westbound only
		Illiopolis Township	122	196	122	Mt. Auburn, Illiopolis
	Macon	Niantic Township	128	206	128	Niantic
		Harristown	133	214	133	US 36 east / US 51 south – Decatur, Pana	East end of US 36 overlap; west end of US 51 overlap; signed as exits 133A (east) and 133B (south)
		Decatur	138	222	138	IL 121 – Decatur, Lincoln
			141	227	141	US 51 north – Bloomington, Decatur	East end of US 51 overlap
		Whitmore Township	144	232	144	IL 48 – Oreana, Decatur
			150	241	150	Argenta
	Macon–Piatt county line	Friends Creek– Willow Branch township line	156	251	156	IL 48 – Cisco, Weldon
	Piatt	Monticello Township	164	264	164	Monticello
		Monticello–Sangamon township line	166	267	166	IL 105 west – Monticello
		Sangamon Township	169	272	169	White Heath Road
			172	277	172	IL 10 – Clinton
	Champaign	Scott Township	176	283	176	IL 47 – Mahomet
		Champaign	182	293	182	I-57 to I-74 – Memphis, Chicago	Signed as exits 182A (south) and 182B (north)
						University Avenue, Church Street	Continuation beyond I-57
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

Auxiliary routes

• Spur into Quincy, Illinois, I-172

Related routes

Interstate 72 Business (abbreviated BL 72) is a Business Loop of I-72 in Jacksonville. It runs from the U.S. 36/I-72/U.S. 67 interchange southwest of Jacksonville north along the U.S. 67 bypass of Jacksonville to the former alignment of U.S. 36 (Morton Avenue). On Morton Avenue, BL 72 runs east through downtown Jacksonville until it reaches I-72 at exit 68. This is a distance of 9.5 miles (15.3 km).^[8]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 72.

• Illinois Highway Ends: Interstate 72

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