Interstate 94 in Illinois

Interstate 94
Route information
Maintained by IDOT
Length:	78.00 mi[1] (125.53 km)
Major junctions
West end:	I-41 / I-94 / US 41 near Zion
	I-294 in Northbrook I-90 in Chicago I-290 / IL 110 (CKC) in Chicago I-55 in Chicago I-90 / Chicago Skyway in Chicago I-57 in Chicago I-80 / I-294 / IL 394 in South Holland
East end:	I-80 / I-94 / US 6 in Lansing
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Illinois State Highway System Interstates U.S. State Tollways ← IL 93 IL 94 →

Interstate 94 (I-94) generally runs north–south through the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Illinois, in Lake and Cook counties. It is marked east–west in Illinois in accordance with its general alignment across the country, although some entrances on the Tri-State Tollway have north or south I-94 signs. I-94 in Illinois is 78.00 miles (125.53 km) long.^[1]

The William G. Edens Expressway (also known as the Edens Parkway and the Edens Superhighway) is the main major expressway north from the city of Chicago to Northbrook, Illinois. Only the short portion from the spur ramp to the expressway's end in Highland Park does not carry I-94. It was the first expressway in Chicago and was opened on December 20, 1951. It has three lanes in each direction. The original name of the expressway was the Edens Parkway, named after William G. Edens, a banker and early advocate for paved roads. He was a sponsor of Illinois' first highway bond issue in 1918.

Route description

The control cities for I-94 generally are Wisconsin or Milwaukee to the north and west, Chicago or Chicago Loop for those heading to the central portion, and Indiana to the south and east.

Wisconsin to Downtown Chicago

I-94 traverses rural and suburban areas in Lake County, and serves Six Flags Great America and the Gurnee Mills mall; extensive office developments and residential districts in southern Lake County and the North Shore region of Cook County, and serves the Old Orchard Shopping Center; the length of the city of Chicago, running just west of the Chicago Loop on the Kennedy Expressway.

I-94 has eight lanes (four in each direction) coming south from Wisconsin until just north of Deerfield Road where it widens further to 10 lanes as it approaches I-294 and the Edens Spur. This is where three lanes branch off and begin I-294 while two lanes for I-94 head east onto the Edens Spur which only has four lanes total (two in each direction).

The highway turns south and widens back to six lanes on the Edens Expressway, and to ten lanes (four lanes in each direction plus two reversible lanes) along the Kennedy Expressway. At Ohio Street, the reversible lanes terminate and the highway has 10 lanes to the Circle Interchange, where the left lane ends and the right lane exits onto the Eisenhower Expressway.

Until 2010, mileposts along the portion of I-94 that are part of the Tri-State Tollway reflect the distance from the southeastern terminus of the tollway, that led to a counterintuitive increase in the mile numbers as one proceeds "west." In 2010, the mile markers have been renumbered to indicate mileage of I-94 traveled in Illinois, increasing from the Wisconsin border to the Indiana border.^[2]

Downtown Chicago to Indiana

South of downtown Chicago, I-94 serves the southeast suburbs of Chicago, including Dolton, Calumet City, and South Holland, Illinois, until it joins I-80 on the Kingery Expressway, which finally enters Indiana east of Lansing, Illinois.

I-94 has ten lanes (five in each direction) from the exit ramps of the Circle Interchange to the Stevenson Expressway. It then splits into a 14-lane freeway on the Dan Ryan, with three and four lanes alternating between the local and express lanes in both directions. At the Chicago Skyway, a two-lane ramp carries traffic to I-90, leaving ten lanes (five in each direction) running south to the I-57/I-94 junction.

From I-57 to Cottage Grove Avenue, I-94 has four lanes (two lanes each way), with six lanes (three lanes each way) between Michigan Avenue and Cottage Grove Avenue. The freeway connection ramp to Stony Island Avenue has four lanes (two in each direction). I-94 then has six lanes (three in each direction) south to I-80. On the ramps to and from I-80, I-94 has two lanes in each direction. On I-80 itself, I-94 widens to eight lanes (four in each direction) to the state line.

The section including the Southland Interchange with I-80 and I-294 was reconfigured as part of the Kingery Expressway reconstruction project, completed in 2007, including four lanes south of 159th Street, with the split between I-80 and 94 east to the left, and I-80 west, I-294 north, and IL 394 south on the right located north of the 170th Street overpass. The configuration of I-80 and I-94 is discussed in connection with the Kingery Expressway.

History

I-494 (and later I-694) was originally planned to serve as a loop in Chicago and follow Lake Shore Drive along Lake Michigan. After local opposition prevented I-494 and I-694 from being completed, both numbers were completely dropped. Portions of the old I-494/I-694 exist as US 41 (Lake Shore Drive) and the Ohio Street connector. In addition, I-494 was also planned at one point to be a western bypass of Chicago, as the Crosstown Expressway.

The Edens Expressway section of I-94 was last rehabilitated from 1978 through 1980.^[3] From 2007 to 2009, I-94 was widened from six to eight lanes between IL 173 (Rosecrans Road) and IL 22 (Half Day Road).^[4]

In 1995, the interstate was renamed in honor of Bishop Louis Henry Ford. Bishop Ford served as the presiding Bishop and leader of the Church of God In Christ. L.H. Ford was a strong advocate for social justice a became nationally recognized after the horrific death of Emmett Till, officiating the funeral and giving the eulogy for Emmett Till at Robert's Temple COGIC in 1955.[27] L.H. Ford is most notably credited with bringing President Bill Clinton, who was a personal friend and the only U.S. President to address the COGIC at Mason Temple during the Eighty-Sixth International Holy Convocation on November 13, 1993.[28]

On April 4, 2008, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) closed one lane in each direction for the entire length of the freeway. The closures lasted until August 2008, occurred in advance of patching and resurfacing of the mainline. In addition, the $42.8 million project was to rehabilitate six bridges and improve drainage at four underpasses.^[5]

The Bishop Ford Freeway in South Holland, approaching exit 73

The Calumet Expressway was originally an extension of Doty Avenue. There were traffic lights at the intersections of Doty with 111th, 115th, and 130th, but interchanges were built in the early 1960s. The expressway was originally designated as IL 1, Alternate US 30, and certain portions as US 6 and IL 83, but IL 1 returned to Halsted Street, and US 6 and IL 83 were routed onto Torrence Avenue. In 1962, the connection between the Calumet Expressway and Dan Ryan Expressway opened, and is now signed as part of the Bishop Ford.

In 2006–07, the portion south of 159th Street was reconstructed as part of the Kingery Expressway-Southland Interchange project. The section between 159th Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. drive was rehabilitated and resurfaced in Summer and Fall 2009.^[6]

Exit list

County	Location[1]	mi[1][7][lower-alpha 1]	km	Exit[1]	Destinations	Notes
Lake		0.00	0.00		I-41 north / I-94 west / US 41 north – Milwaukee	Continuation into Wisconsin
		0.20	0.32	1A	Russell Road	Signed as exit 1 northbound
		0.96	1.54	1B	I-41 north / US 41 south – Waukegan	Southern terminus of I-41; southern end of US 41 concurrency; southbound exit and northbound entrance; last exit southbound before tolls
	Zion	2.50	4.02	2	IL 173 (Rosecrans Road)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Wadsworth	5.00	8.05	Waukegan Toll Plaza
	Gurnee	8.50	13.68	8	IL 132 (Grand Avenue)
		10.00	16.09	10	IL 21 (Milwaukee Avenue)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		11.00	17.70	11	IL 120 (Belvidere Road)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	North Chicago	14.00	22.53	14	IL 137 (Buckley Road)
	Lake Bluff	16.00	25.75	16	IL 176 (Rockland Road)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Lake Forest	18.00	28.97	Lake Forest Oasis
		19.00	30.58	19	IL 60 (Town Line Road)
	Lincolnshire	22.00	35.41	22	IL 22 (Half Day Road)
	Deerfield	24.00	38.62	24	Deerfield Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Cook–Lake county line	Northbrook–Deerfield city line	25.25	40.64	25	Lake–Cook Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Cook	Northbrook	25.50	41.04	25	I-294 south (Tri-State Tollway)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; I-94 transitions between the Tri-State Tollway and the Edens Spur
		26.5	42.6	Edens Spur Toll Plaza[7]
		28.00	45.06	28	IL 43 (Waukegan Road)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		29.96	48.22	29	US 41 north (Skokie Highway)	Western end of US 41 concurrency; last free exit westbound; no eastbound exit; I-94 transitions between the Edens Spur and the Edens Expressway
		30.23	48.65	30	IL 68 west (Dundee Road) – Northbrook	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 30A (west) and 30B (east)
	Northfield	31.92	51.37	31	Tower Road –Winnetka, Northfield	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		33.04	53.17	33	Willow Road – Winnetka	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 33A (west) and 33B (east)
	Wilmette	33.95	54.64	34A	US 41 south (Skokie Road)	Eastern end of US 41 concurrency; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		34.58	55.65	34	Lake Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 34B (west) and 34C (east)
	Skokie	35.84	57.68	35	Old Orchard Road (10000 North)	Access to Old Orchard Mall
		37.38	60.16	37	IL 58 (Dempster Street (8800 North)) – Morton Grove	Signed to Northwestern University
	Lincolnwood–Skokie city line	39.87	64.16	39	Touhy Avenue (7200 North)	Westbound exit to eastbound Touhy Avenue uses IL 50 (Cicero Avenue); signed as exits 39A (west) and 37B (east)
	Chicago	41.37	66.58	41	US 14 (Peterson Avenue / Caldwell Avenue (6000 North))	Eastbound exit only to Peterson eastbound; Caldwell entrance only to I-94 east; signed as exits 41A (south) and 41B (north)
		41.91	67.45	41C	IL 50 west (Cicero Avenue (4800 West)) to I-90 / Foster Avenue – O'Hare Field	Eastbound exit only
		42.49	68.38	42	Foster Avenue (5200 North)	Entrance and exit to I-94 west only
		43.52	70.04	43A	Wilson Avenue (4600 North)
		43.32	69.72	43B	I-90 west (Kennedy Expressway)) – Chicago Loop	Also known as "The Junction"; I-94 eastbound joins I-90 traveling eastbound; exits to eastbound express and local lanes; no access to westbound I-90 traveling eastbound (use exit 41C, Cicero Avenue and Foster Avenue)
		43.6	70.2	43C	Montrose Avenue (4400 North)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		43.9	70.7	43D	Kostner Avenue (4400 West)	Westbound exit only
		44.2– 44.4	71.1– 71.5	44A	IL 19 (Irving Park Road (4000 North)) / Keeler Avenue (4200 West)	No westbound exit
		44.6	71.8	44B	IL 19 (Irving Park Road (4000 North)) / Pulaski Road(4000 West)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		45.1	72.6	45A	Addison Street (3600 North)
		45.5	73.2	45B	Kimball Avenue (3400 West)
		45.8	73.7	45C	Belmont Avenue (3200 North) to Kedzie Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		46.1	74.2	-	Sacramento Avenue (3000 West)	Eastbound entrance only
		46.3	74.5	46A	California Avenue (2800 West)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		46.5	74.8	46B	Diversey Avenue (2800 North)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		47.05– 47.5	75.72– 76.4	47A	Western Avenue (2400 West), Fullerton Avenue (2400 North)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance from Western Avenue
		47.6	76.6	47B	Damen Avenue (2000 West)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		48.15	77.49	48A	Armitage Avenue (2000 North)
		48.7	78.4	48B	IL 64 (North Avenue (1600 North))
		49.4	79.5	49A	Division Street (1200 North)
		49.7– 49.8	80.0– 80.1	49B	Augusta Boulevard (1000 North), Milwaukee Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		50.1	80.6	50A	Ogden Avenue (1200 West)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				East end of express lanes
		50.4	81.1	50B	Ohio Street east (600 North)
		51.0	82.1	51A	Lake Street (200 North)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		51.1	82.2	51B	Randolph Street west (150 North)
		51.2	82.4	51C	Washington Boulevard east (100 North)	Exits only; no entrances
		51.3	82.6	51D	Madison Street (0 North/South)
		51.4	82.7	51E	Monroe Street (100 South)	Eastbound exit only
		51.5	82.9	51F	Adams Street west (200 South)	Eastbound exit only (combined ramp with Jackson Boulevard, exit 51G)
		51.6	83.0	51G	Jackson Boulevard east (300 South)	Eastbound exit (combined ramp with Adams Street, exit 51F) and westbound entrance
		51.8	83.4	51H	I-290 / IL 110 (CKC) west (Eisenhower Expressway) – West Suburbs	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		51.8	83.4	51I	Congress Parkway – Chicago Loop (500 South)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		52.1	83.8	52A	Taylor Street (1000 South), Roosevelt Road (1200 South)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		52.3	84.2	52B	Roosevelt Road (1200 South), Taylor Street (1000 South)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		52.9	85.1	52C	18th Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		53.0	85.3	53A	Canalport Avenue, Cermak Road (2200 South)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		53.3	85.8	53	I-55 (Stevenson Expressway) – St. Louis, Lake Shore Drive	Signed as exits 53B (south) and 53C (north) westbound
				Western end of express lanes
		53.8	86.6	53C	Cermak Road (2200 South)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		54.7	88.0	54	31st Street (3100 south)
		55.2	88.8	55A	35th Street	U.S. Cellular Field, Illinois Institute of Technology
		55.7	89.6	55B	Pershing Road (3900 South)
		56.2	90.4	56A	43rd Street
		56.7	91.2	56B	47th Street (4700 south)
		57.7	92.9	57	Garfield Boulevard (5500 South)
		58.2	93.7	58A	59th Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		58.7	94.5	58B	63rd Street (6300 south)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		59.0	95.0	59A	I-90 east / Chicago Skyway to Indiana Toll Road	Eastern end of I-90 concurrency; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		59.3	95.4	59B	Marquette Road, 67th Street (6700 South)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				Eastern end of express lanes
		59.8	96.2	59C	71st Street (7100 south)
60.3		97.0	60A	75th Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
60.4		97.2	60B	76th Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
60.8		97.8	60C	79th Street (7900 south)
61.3		98.7	61A	83rd Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
61.8		99.5	61B	87th Street (8700 south)
62.8		101.1	62	US 12 / US 20 (95th Street)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
63.17		101.66	63	I-57 south – Memphis	Left exit on Bishop Ford Freeway; northern terminus of Bishop Ford Freeway; northern terminus of I-57; I-94 continues north onto the Dan Ryan Expressway
64.59– 65.56		103.95– 105.51	65	WB (on NB Bishop Ford): Stony Island Avenue (1600 East), 103rd Street EB (on connector): Stony Island Avenue (1600 East), To 95th and 103rd Streets	Marked as "To US 41 — Lake Shore Drive"
66.18		106.51	66A	111th Street	Exit to Pullman Historic District
66.70		107.34	66B	115th Street
68.67		110.51	68	130th Street	Exit to Illinois International Port; signed as exits 68A and 68B
69.52		111.88	69	Beaubien Forest Preserve	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; access to 134th Street
Calumet River	69.91	112.51	Steel Bridge
Calumet City	70.62	113.65	70	Dolton Avenue	Eastbound exits and westbound entrances; signed as exits 70A and 70B
	71.42	114.94	71	IL 83 – Sibley Boulevard (15000 South)	Signed as exits 71A and 7B
South Holland	72.96	117.42	73	US 6 – 159th Street, South Holland	Signed as exits 73A and 73B; while signed as 159th Street, US 6 is 162nd Street in South Holland and River Oaks Drive in Calumet City
	74.40	119.74	74A	IL 394 south – Danville I-80 west / I-294 north (Tri-State Tollway) – Iowa, Wisconsin	Southern terminus of Bishop Ford Freeway; southern terminus of Tri-State Tollway and I-294; I-94 continues eastbound with I-80 onto the Kingery Expressway; signed as exits 74A (IL 394) and 74B (I-80/I-294)
Lansing	75.62	121.70	161	US 6 west / IL 83 (Torrence Avenue)	West end of US 6 concurrency
	77.41	124.58		I-80 east / I-94 east / US 6 east	Continuation into Indiana
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Tolled

Notes

References

External links

• Historic, Current & Average Travel Times For The Edens Expressway

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 94 in Illinois.

Route map: Bing

Interstate 94
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