Peoria and

East Peoria East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

are separated by the

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...

, a long body of water that reaches up to a mile across in places along

Peoria Lake Peoria Lake is a section of the Illinois River between Peoria in Peoria County, Illinois and East Peoria in Tazewell County, Illinois. The oldest section of Peoria, the largest city on the river, lies at its shores. The lake is formed by a bro ...

. The Illinois River is one of six rivers that are included in the Lower Illinois River Basin which extends between Ottawa, Illinois and the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

at Grafton, Illinois. Three of the six rivers in the Lower Illinois River Basin (

Spoon River The Spoon River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 tributary of the Illinois River in west-central Illinois in the United States. The river drains largely ...

, and

Mackinaw River The Mackinaw River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 13, 2011 tributary of the Illinois River in the U.S. state of Illinois. Its watershed covers approximately , ...

) are in central Illinois. Their combined length is . Of these waterways the Illinois is thought to be the only river large enough to support

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

traffic. In the Peoria area, there are six bridges that cross the Illinois River. Because of the topography of the cities, alignments of the numerous state routes that cross the Illinois River can be somewhat confusing. However, these routes are generally well marked. All bridges that span the Illinois River are required to be built a minimum of above the average river level, as the Illinois River is the main route for river traffic between

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The Illinois River is part of a waterway system that begins in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and exits the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

via Chicago and the

Saint Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...

Main articles

Cedar Street Bridge The Cedar Street Bridge carries Illinois Route 8 and Illinois Route 116 over the Illinois River. The bridge is a steel arch design that rises approximately 70 to above the surface of the river. The name of the bridge comes from the original name ...

Bob Michel Bridge The Bob Michel Bridge (formerly called Franklin Street Bridge) carries Illinois Route 40 over the Illinois River 0.75 miles (1.21 km) up-river from the Cedar Street Bridge. Illinois 40 terminates at an interchange with Interstate 7 ...

Murray Baker Bridge The Murray Baker Bridge is a landmark cantilever bridge that carries Interstate 74 (I-74) and Illinois Route 29 (IL 29) over the Illinois River from downtown Peoria to East Peoria in central Illinois. According to the Illinois ...

McClugage Bridge The McClugage Bridge carries U.S. Route 150 over Upper Peoria Lake & Peoria Lake in the Illinois River in the US state of Illinois. The bridge's official name honors David H. McClugage, mayor of Peoria from 1937 to 1941. The crossing is actua ...

* Shade-Lohmann Bridge

References

{{Tazewell County, Illinois *Peoria, Illinois Buildings and structures in Peoria, Illinois Bridges in Peoria County, Illinois Bridges in Tazewell County, Illinois