Illinois Route 394

Route map:
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Illinois Route 394 marker

Illinois Route 394

Calumet Expressway
Map
IL 394 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by IDOT
Length14.63 mi[1] (23.54 km)
Existed1965[4]–present
HistorySigned as IL 1 1957[2]–1964[3]
Major junctions
South end IL 1 in Crete
Major intersections US 30 in Ford Heights
North end

I-80 Toll / I-94 / I-294 Toll in South Holland
Location
CountryUnited States
StateIllinois
CountiesWill, Cook
Highway system
IL 390 I-474

Illinois Route 394 (IL 394), also known as the Calumet Expressway, is a 14.6-mile-long (23.5 km) four-lane state highway that travels north from a junction with

Chicago
.

Route description

combination interchange

IL 394 begins as a four-lane arterial at a junction with

Bishop Ford Freeway) interchange in South Holland.[5]

History

Before taking the IL 394 designation, the route was a former alignment of IL 1. In the 1950s, a freeway, then known as the Calumet Expressway, was constructed south of Chicago as 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. By 1964, IL 1 was restored to its old alignment along Halsted Street, and US 6 and IL 83 were routed onto Torrence Avenue, while the IL 394 designation was applied to the expressway south of the portion designated as I-94. At this time, IL 1 was discontinued north of I-57. In 1962, the connection between the Calumet Expressway and Dan Ryan Expressway opened and is now signed as part of the Bishop Ford. In 1996, the Calumet Expressway was renamed in honor of Bishop Louis Henry Ford, the leader of the Church of God in Christ who had died the previous year.[6]

In 2006 and 2007, IL 394 was reconstructed north of Glenwood–Dyer Road as part of the massive Kingery Expressway reconstruction effort. The intersection with I-80, I-94 and I-294 was improved. In the southbound direction, the ramps were rebuilt, with a gentler left-exit curve for I-94 to travel from the Bishop Ford to the Kingery Expressway. The cloverleaf-style ramps to southbound IL 394 were replaced with a flyover and the distributor leg of a collector–distributor ramp from eastbound I-80/I-294. In the northbound direction, a dangerous ramp to eastbound I-80/I-94 was replaced with a ramp to a set of collector–distributor lanes, intended for US 6 and IL 83 (Torrence Avenue). A cloverleaf ramp from eastbound I-80/I-294 was replaced with a flyover, and the merge area where IL 394 terminates was improved. (The I-94 ramp itself has been moved nearly a mile [1.6 km] east to before Torrence Avenue). These improvements were completed in June 2007.[7]

Future

In the late 1990s, and in July 2010, plans were rumored to upgrade IL 394 into a full Interstate. I-394 would begin at its current northern terminus and continue south towards Beecher, where the Interstate would then turn west to a southern terminus at I-57 just south of Monee. However, both proposals were never seriously taken into consideration, and the proposed upgrade is currently not a priority and no funding has been provided.[citation needed]

Exit list

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
WillCrete0.000.00 IL 1 (Dixie Highway)
Lincoln Highway
Southern end of freeway
Lynwood11.1017.86Glenwood–Dyer Road
Chicago
I-94 continues west; Southland Interchange; I-80 west exit 160; I-94 east exit 74A; I-294 south exit 0
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. ^ a b Illinois Technology Transfer Center (2006). "T2 GIS Data". Retrieved November 8, 2007.
  2. ^ Illinois Division of Highways; H.M. Gousha (1957). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:805,000]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved August 13, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
  3. ^ Illinois Division of Highways; Rand McNally (1964). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:757,500]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved August 13, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
  4. ^ Illinois Division of Highways; Rand McNally (1965). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:757,500]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved August 13, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
  5. ^ Google (November 19, 2020). "Overview map of IL 394" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  6. ^ Varon, Ron (February 17, 2012). "Interstate Identities: Kingery, Bishop Ford, Edens". Chicago: WLS-TV. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  7. ^ "Independence from Roadwork along New Kingery Expressway and Modernized Southland Corridor Marks July 4th Holiday Week" (Press release). Illinois Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2007.

External links

KML is from Wikidata