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Interstate 90 in Illinois
Section of Interstate Highway in Illinois, United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Interstate 90 (I-90) in the US state of Illinois runs roughly northwest-to-southeast through the northern part of the state. From the Wisconsin state line at South Beloit, it heads south to Rockford before heading east-southeast to the Indiana state line at Chicago. I-90 traverses 124 miles (200 km) through a variety of settings, from farmland west of the Fox River Valley through the medium-density suburbs west of O'Hare International Airport, through Downtown Chicago, and through the heart of the industrial southeast side of Chicago before entering Indiana.
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I-90 comprises several named highways. The Interstate runs along the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (previously called the Northwest Tollway) from South Beloit to O'Hare Airport, the Kennedy Expressway from O'Hare to the Chicago Loop, the Dan Ryan Expressway from the Loop to the Chicago Skyway, and the Skyway to the Indiana state line. The Jane Addams and Chicago Skyway are toll roads maintained by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) and the Skyway Concession Company (SCC), respectively. The remainder of the highway is maintained by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT).
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Winnebago County
I-90 enters Illinois concurrently with I-39 in South Beloit as a six-lane expressway. US Route 51 (US 51) joins Interstate at exit 1 (South Beloit); the 0.3 miles (0.48 km) between the exit and the state line is the only point where I-39 is not concurrent with US 51 in Illinois. The Jane Addams Memorial Tollway is immediately south of Rockton and the South Beloit Toll Plaza (the northernmost toll plaza in Illinois). I-39/I-90 continues in nearly a north-south direction towards Rockford, and IL 173 serves as its first exit; the Interstate pass through Rock Cut State Park (among the largest in the state). The next exit (East Riverside Boulevard) forms the border between Rockford and Loves Park. US 20 makes its first two interchanges with I-90 in Winnebago County, both within two miles (3.2 km) of each other in the Rockford region. The first is with the State Street US 20 business route connecting Rockford and Belvidere. The second is where I-90 splits with I-39/US 51, with the latter taking the path of the westbound US 20 bypass between Rockford and Cherry Valley for approximately three miles (4.8 km) before it splits again to move southward. As the Jane Addams splits from I-39, I-90 takes a sharp change in direction from south to east; until it crosses through Jane Byrne Interchange in Chicago, it is signed only as I-90. The I-39/I-90 split between Rockford and Cherry Valley marks the point where I-90 and US 20 follow nearly parallel routing until their eastern terminus in Massachusetts (though sharing no concurrency). Eastward of the interchange, I-90 is fitted with center-mounted lighting. Shortly before entering Boone County, I-90 crosses the Kishwaukee River.
Boone, McHenry, and Kane counties
Shortly after entering Boone County, I-90 passes over US 20 and has two exits providing access to Belvidere (accessing the eastern terminus of the US 20 business route). In addition to a westbound toll plaza, an Illinois Tollway oasis is located here (the sole example on I-90). The over-highway design of the oasis houses multiple vendors, allowing tollway travelers the options of resting, eating, and refueling from one location on the highway. East of Belvidere, I-90 exits the Rockford region and enters into more substantially rural surroundings, spacing exits much further apart. It changes to a southeast direction as it approaches McHenry County, where the only exit is in unincorporated Riley on IL 23 (five miles [8.0 km] south of Marengo); to match the westbound Belvidere Toll Plaza, eastbound traffic passes through the Marengo Toll Plaza (approximately a mile eastward of IL 23). As I-90 enters Kane County, the surroundings begin to transition from the farmland of Boone and McHenry counties towards various locations of the western Chicago suburbs (entering the Golden Corridor of Illinois); within five miles (8.0 km), the tollway has two exits. In Hampshire, I-90 has its third interchange with US 20; an eastward exit is located with IL 47 between Pingree Grove and Huntley. As I-90 approaches the Fox Valley, it enters Elgin, passing Randall Road (the historic western terminus of the Chicago suburbs). After the interchange, I-90 expands from six to eight lanes in width and gradually turns east as it passes through the Elgin Toll Plaza (both directions) and IL 31. After crossing the Fox River, it passes.
Suburban Cook county
After passing IL 25 in Elgin, I-90 moves uphill and enters Cook County, heading eastward towards I-290 (Eisenhower Expressway). Prior to its intersection with the Eisenhower, the highway passes through Hoffman Estates (including IL 59) and Schaumburg (each also have a westbound-only interchange). Eastward of the Barrington Road exit (the first SPUI exit on the tollway), I-90 is fitted with active traffic management gantries. I-290 has its northern terminus with I-90, becoming IL 53 north of the tollway. To the north, the exit provides access to many suburbs accessed by both US 12 and US 14. To the south, the Eisenhower provides expressway access to the city of Chicago, along with access to I-355 (accessing the southern suburbs with access to I-55 and I-80). After passing the Eisenhower, I-90 expands from eight to ten lanes and turns gradually southeast towards Des Plaines (passing through Rolling Meadows and Arlington Heights). As it approaches Elmhurst Road (IL 83 north of I-90), the tollway moves back to eight lanes as it passes directly north of O'Hare International Airport; it widens back to ten lanes as it passes over US 45. The final exits for the I-90 tollway are in Rosemont, on Devon Avenue (westbound traffic) and River Road (eastbound).
Chicago
Moving east of the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) and crossing the Des Plaines River, I-90 enters the Chicago city limits; no longer tolled, it becomes the Kennedy Expressway, with the CTA Blue Line operating in the median. After crossing IL 43, the Kennedy turns southeast, with I-94 joining it at IL 50 (marking the southern terminus of the Edens Expressway). Eastward of IL 50 (Cicero Avenue), the highway operates with reversible express lanes, directing express traffic in addition to the eight lanes of local traffic. Following the direction of the Chicago River, the Kennedy Expressway has its eastern terminus in the West Loop at the Jane Byrne Interchange (passing the Eisenhower Expressway). After passing through the Jane Byrne Interchange, I-90/I-94 becomes the Dan Ryan Expressway. In contrast to the electronically-controlled gates used by the Kennedy, the Dan Ryan is up to 14 lanes wide (with a center express section and outer lanes for local traffic). In the Englewood neighborhood, I-90 splits from I-94, becoming the tolled Chicago Skyway. Following the southeast direction of the railroad tracks in the area, the six-lane skyway is an elevated road linked to a bridge crossing the Calumet River. As it exits Illinois, I-90 continues into Hammond, Indiana, (directly over US 20 and US 41) before moving back onto ground level as the Indiana Toll Road.
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Jane Addams Memorial Tollway
The 76-mile (122 km) Northwest Tollway portion of I-90 opened on August 20, 1958.[2] Prior to the opening, the first vehicle to officially travel the new roadway was a covered wagon navigated by local resident John Madsen who took five days to make the journey.[3]
On September 7, 2007, highway officials responding to an effort by state lawmakers renamed the Northwest Tollway to Jane Addams Memorial Tollway, after Jane Addams, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Settlement House movement in the US.[4][5]
The Illinois Tollway's 2005–2012 Congestion-Relief Program provided $644.1 million (equivalent to $991 million in 2024[6]) in projects along the I-90 corridor.[7] Projects included rebuilding and widening of the tollway between I-39 and Rockton Road, including a reconfiguration of the I-90/I-39 interchange. This construction started in 2008 and was completed by the end of 2009.[8]
From 2013 to 2016, over $2 billion (equivalent to $2.65 billion in 2024[6]) was spent on rebuilding and widening the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway from I-39 to the Kennedy Expressway. The inside shoulders were widened for future transit opportunities, and active traffic management was incorporated into the corridor from IL 59 to the eastern end.[9][10] In addition, almost all of the crossroad bridges were rebuilt and several interchanges were reconfigured/expanded.[11] In 2019, a $33.4-million (equivalent to $40.3 million in 2024[6]) interchange with IL 23 was added near Marengo to provide the first I-90 interchange in McHenry County.[12]
Until 1978, I-90 was routed on the Congress Street Expressway (later named the Eisenhower Expressway) which was extended from the Loop to the interchange of the Northwest Tollway and IL 53. The Kennedy Expressway was signed only as I-94, and the portion of present-day I-90 between the Edens Expressway and IL 53 was not signed as an Interstate Highway. This provided a non-toll section of I-90 between Downtown Chicago and IL 53. The route designations were changed to their present form when I-90 was moved to follow the entire length of the Kennedy Expressway and the Jane Addams Tollway, and the original route was designated I-290.
In 2018, ISTHA raised the speed limit on I-90 from 65 to 70 mph (105 to 113 km/h) from the I-39 split to Randall Road. They also raised it from 55 to 70 mph (89 to 113 km/h) from Randall Road to Mount Prospect Road and raised it from 55 to 60 mph (89 to 97 km/h) from Mount Prospect Road to the Kennedy. The speed limit for buses is 65 mph (105 km/h), and the speed limit for trucks is 60 mph (97 km/h).[13]
Chicago Skyway
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The Chicago Skyway toll plaza in 1999 and 2013
The Chicago Skyway was originally known as the Calumet Skyway.[14] It cost $101 million (equivalent to $840 million in 2024[6]) to construct and took about 34 months (nearly three years) to build. Nearly eight miles (13 km) of elevated roadway, the Chicago Skyway was originally built as a shortcut for cars from State Street, a major north–south street on Chicago's South Side that serves the Loop, to the steel mills on the Southeast to the Indiana state line where the Indiana Toll Road begins. Later, when the Dan Ryan Expressway opened, the Chicago Skyway was extended west to connect to it. There are only two eastbound exits east of the toll barrier, whereas there are four westbound exits west of the toll barrier (so that no exits are available until one has crossed the bridge and paid the toll). The Chicago Skyway opened to traffic on April 16, 1958.[14][15]
The Skyway's official name, referring to it as a "toll bridge" rather than a "toll road", is the result of a legal quirk. At the time of its construction, the city charter of Chicago did not provide the authority to construct a toll road. However, the city could build toll bridges, and it was found that there was no limit to the length of the approaches to the bridge. Therefore, the Skyway is technically a toll bridge spanning the Calumet River with a six-mile-long (9.7 km) approach. This also is part of the reason that there are no exits available until after one has crossed the bridge and paid the toll.[16]
Historically, the Chicago Skyway was signed as, and was widely considered to be part of, I-90 from the mid-1960s forward (after I-90 in this area had been swapped with I-94). However, from around 1999 until 2022, the Chicago Department of Transportation worked under a new assumption that they had never received official approval to designate the Skyway as I-90. The city subsequently replaced most of the "I-90" signage with "TO I-90/I-94" signage. IDOT has always reported and continues to report the Skyway as part of the Interstate Highway System, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) also does consider the Chicago Skyway's roadway as I-90 unless IDOT revokes their designation of such.[17] As of 2022, the Skyway is again signed as I-90, though now denoted with non-standard oversized shields constructed by CDOT.
In the 1960s, the newly constructed Dan Ryan Expressway and the neighboring Calumet, Kingery, and Borman expressways provided free alternatives to the tollway, and the Skyway became much less used. As a result, from the 1970s through the early 1990s, the Skyway was unable to repay revenue bonds used in its construction.[18] Traffic volumes rebounded from the late 1990s onward, partially because of the construction of casinos in Northwest Indiana, along with reconstruction of the Dan Ryan, Kingery, and Borman expressways.[19] In June 2005, the Skyway became compatible with electronic toll collection, with users now able to pay tolls using I-Pass or E-ZPass transponders.[20]
Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation formerly maintained the Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge System. A 2004 transaction that gave the city a $1.83-billion (equivalent to $2.9 billion in 2024[6]) cash infusion leased the Skyway to the Skyway Concession Company, a joint-venture between the Australian Macquarie Infrastructure Group and Spanish Cintra, which assumed operations on the Skyway on a 99-year operating lease. The agreement between the Skyway Concession Company and the City of Chicago marked the first time an existing toll road was moved from public to private operation in the US.[21]
Until the summer of 2015, to the south of the toll plaza, an unusually-placed McDonald's restaurant and its parking lot (including a drive-thru) sat in the median of the toll approach as a de facto rest stop before leaving or entering Chicago. The franchisee terminated the lease with the SCC shortly before, blaming closure on the declining profits as the restaurant was more popular for its restrooms than the food it offered. The McDonald's building was later torn down, and the toll approach was further expanded upon its former footprint.[22][23]
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Related routes
I-90 has two related auxiliary Interstate Highways within Illinois. I-190 is a spur into O'Hare International Airport in Chicago that is also known as the Kennedy Expressway O'Hare Extension or the O'Hare Expressway. I-290 takes a southeasterly dogleg left route accessing the western suburbs and heading eastward into Downtown Chicago. It is also known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Expressway. A third route, the Western O'Hare Beltway, is under construction and has been designated I-490. This new route, passing along the west side of O'Hare between I-90 and I-294, is expected to open in 2026.[25]
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