Interstate 57 in Illinois

 

I-57
Begin Cairo
End Chicago
Length 364 mi
Length 586 km
Route
CairoMarion

Mount Vernon

Effingham

To the carpet

Champaign

Rantoul

Kankakee

Oak Forest

Chicago

Interstate 57 or I -57 is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Illinois. The highway is a north-south route, running from Cairo on the Missouri border to Chicago. Although Interstate 55 is the route from Memphis to Chicago, I-57 is better used for through traffic, avoiding I-55 in St. Louis. The highway is 586 kilometers long.

  • SEARCHFORPUBLICSCHOOLS: Provides a list of all public primary and high schools in Illinois, including street address, contact phone, and zip code for each school.

Travel directions

Southern Illinois

De Cairo I-57 Bridge over de Mississippi River.

The I-57/I-24 fork at Goreville.

Interstate 57 in Missouri crosses the Mississippi River via a 1,200-meter bridge, after which I-57 arrives at Cairo in Illinois. One crosses the US 51, which runs to Cairo. The highway runs in 2×2 lanes parallel to the Ohio River, which flows into the Mississippi nearby. One passes through slightly hilly area, with wooded hills and prairies around it. There are no major towns along the way, the next major town is Chicago, nearly 600 miles to the north. At Goreville, Interstate 24 branches off south toward Paducah and Nashville. From here, traffic from the southeastern United States merges.

You pass Marion, a small town on SR-13, a four-lane highway that runs from Carbondale to Harrisburg, two larger towns in southern Illinois. You then pass through a fairly flat area, with occasional forests. Occasionally there are small towns along the highway that are hardly worth mentioning. One passes over a side arm of the Rend Lake reservoir. Then you come to Mount Vernon, a regional town where you cross Interstate 64, which runs to Evansville and Louisville to the east. Both roads are then briefly double-numbered, after which I-64 turns west to Saint Louis, which is 120 kilometers to the west. Mount Vernon has about 16,000 inhabitants, but is not adjacent to itUS Highways.

  • USPRIVATESCHOOLSFINDER.COM: Provides a list of all private primary and elementary schools in Illinois, including street address, contact phone, and zip code for each school.

Eastern Illinois

For the time being, the landscape in this part of Illinois is still a mix of forests and meadows. The road network is already more of a grid network, which is standard for states in the Midwest. At the town of Salem you cross the US 50, which runs from Saint Louis to Vincennes in Indiana. The road then curves to the northeast, a direction it continues for the next 60 kilometers. The number of meadows is already increasing here, a harbinger of the endless prairies. You then arrive at Effingham, a regional town with 12,000 inhabitants. However, it is a junction, because it crosses Interstate 70, which runs from Saint Louis to Indianapolis. It also crosses US 45, which runs south from Fairfield to Mattoon, parallel to I-57.

From Mattoon, I-57 enters the domain of the endless barren prairies. Here the road network is built in a tight grid pattern, with one intersecting road every mile. In Tuscola you cross the US 36, which runs from Decatur to Montezuma in Indiana. The I-57 has many long straights here. One then reaches the mini-agglomeration of Champaign-Urbana, which has 113,000 inhabitants. Interstate 72 ends on the west side of Champaign, which runs to Decatur and the state capital Springfield. Shortly afterwards, you cross Interstate 74, which runs from Peoria to Indianapolis. Just as quickly as one entered the urban area, one leaves the city again, to walk further north.

A little further north, in Rantoul one crosses US 136, which runs from Keokuk in Iowa to Danville on the border with Indiana. The route is quite monotonous, with almost only fields. Parallel to the road still runs US 45. At Gilman one crosses US 24, which runs from Peoria to Watseka in the east. You then pass Kankakee, a regional town 60 kilometers south of Chicago. This place is also quickly passed. One then reaches the Chicago metropolitan area.

Chicago

The terminus of I-57 in south Chicago.

I-57 at I-294 in the Chicago suburbs.

I-57 near Cairo in southern Illinois.

The first suburb off I-57 is Richton Park, 28 miles from downtown. In Matteson you cross US 30, which runs parallel to Interstate 80. At Country Club Hills one crosses the I-80, one of the main highways of Illinois, which runs from Davenport to Toledo. After this, I-57 widens to 2×3 lanes. In Markham one crosses US 6, which also runs parallel to I-80. One then crosses the Interstate 294, but there are no interchange possibilities. I-294 is also a toll road. The highway then enters the industrial south of the conurbation, passing two large shunting yards. I-57 then ends at Interstate 94, which continues to downtown Chicagoruns, and beyond, to Milwaukee and Minneapolis.

History

One of the first sections to go under construction was the Kankakee bypass, circa 1958. Interstate 57 in Chicago opened in phases between 1967 and 1970. On December 9, 1969, a 22-mile stretch opened between Bonnie and Centralia in Jefferson County. The last section of I-57 opened at Paxton in December 1971. In 1978, the Cairo I-57 Bridge over the Mississippi River on the Missouri border opened to traffic, completing I-57.

In 1968 the following routes were ready;

  • Ullin – Bonnie (105 km)
  • Watson – Mattoon (63 km)
  • Pesotum – I-74 (27 km)
  • Clifton – Chebanse (8 km)
  • Kankakee bypass (12 km)
  • Calumet Park – I-94 (8 km)

The following additional routes were completed in 1973;

  • Mound City – Ullin (21 km)
  • Bonnie – Watson (109 km)
  • Mattoon – Pesotum (48 km)
  • I-74 – Kankakee (114 km)
  • Kankakee – Calumet Park (61 km)

In other words, by 1973 all of I-57 was completed except for the southernmost section near Cairo.

widening

In 2012-2013, I-57/I-64 double-numbering at Mount Vernon was widened from 2×2 to 2×3 lanes. This project was completed in December 2013. In the period 2010-2016 the double numbering of I-57/I-70 along Effingham was also widened to 2×3 lanes. In 2015, I-57 in southern Illinois along Marion was widened to 2×3 lanes, and a DDI was also constructed. In 2020, the section around Johnson City will subsequently be widened to 2×3 lanes. Between 2021 and 2025, an additional 15 kilometers along West Frankfort and Benton will be widened to 2×3 lanes.

Other customizations

Over the 2021-2025 period, the interchange with I-74 at Champaign has been reconstructed for $216 million. Originally this was a simple cloverleaf without shunting lanes. The junction features flyovers and spacious arches.

Future

There was no interchange with I-294 in the Chicago area. This node must be constructed in two phases. The first phase was completed between 2012 and 2014, costing $240 million and being funded by tolls on I-294. The first phase opened to traffic on October 25, 2014. The second phase is to be completed between 2023 and 2024 and will cost $180 million. This should make the node complete.

Lane Configuration

Van Unpleasant Lanes Comments
Exit 0 Exit 345 2×2
Exit 345 Exit 358 2×3 Chicago

Congestion

Congestion occurs with some regularity in the Chicago metropolitan area, but is an unknown phenomenon elsewhere in Illinois on I-57, the highway outside the Chicago area handles low traffic volumes. Only the double numberings with I-64 and I-70 are slightly busier, but these parts have been adequately expanded with 2×3 lanes.

Connections & traffic intensities

I-57 at Rantoul.

# destination AADT
1 Cairo 11.000
8 Mounds Road 11.300
18 Ullin Road 11.300
24 Dongola Road 12.300
25 Carbondale 11.000
30 Anna, Vienna 12.400
36 Lick Creek Road 11.300
40 Goreville Road 14.000
44 Paducah, Nashville 28.300
45 Goreville 28.300
53 Marion 31.700
54 Marion, Carbondale 31.700
59 Johnston City 29.800
65 West Frankfort, Zeigler 35.800
71 Christopher, Benton 28.900
77 Sesser 30.200
83 Ina 28.200
92 Louisville 34.000
94 Mount Vernon 34.000
95 Mount Vernon, Ashley 34.000
96 St. Louis 19.900
103 Dix 20.300
109 Centralia 17.800
116 Salem, Sandoval 15.600
127 Kinmundy, Patoka 15.100
135 Vandalia, Farina 14.900
145 Edgewood 14.200
151 Mason, Watson 14.800
157 St. Louis 33.800
159 Fayette Avenue, Effingham 33.800
160 Effingham 33.800
162 Effingham, Sigel 33.800
163 Indianapolis 16.900
177 Negligence 17.100
184 Toledo, Mattoon 16.400
190 Charleston, Mattoon 17.400
192 County Road 1000 North 17.900
203 Arcola, Paris 18.300
212 Newman, Tuscola 19.400
220 Tolono, Pesotum, Tuscola 21.300
229 Monticello, Savoy, Tolono 21.800
232 Curtis Road 23.700
235 Springfield, Decatur 33.600
237 Indianapolis, Peoria 20.400
238 Olympian Drive 21.400
240 Market Street 21.400
250 Fisher, Rantoul 18.100
261 Paxton, Gibson City 19.400
272 Buckley, Roberts 15.200
280 Onarga, Roberts 14.400
283 Gilman, Chatsworth 18.200
293 Ashkum, Pontiac 20.400
297 Clifton 17.100
302 Chebanse 18.100
308 Kankakee 23.800
312 Kankakee 31.800
315 Bradley, Bourbonnais 31.800
318 Bourbonnais
322 keep 36.200
327 Wilmington, Peotone 30.600
335 Manhattan, Monee 40.400
337 Stuenkel Road, Governors State University 40.400
339 Sauk Trail 40.400
340 Matteson 81.800
342 Vollmer Road, Matteson 87.900
345 Davenport, Gary 91.200
346 Oak Forest, 167th Street 92.400
348 Markham, 159th Street 102.600
349 Milwaukee 95.400
350 Posen, 147th Street 115.200
353 Calumet Park, 127th Street 101.700
354 Calumet Park, Chicago, 111th Street 130.800
357 Chicago, Halsted Street 157.300
364 Chicago, Gary

Interstate 57 in Illinois