Illinois Route 161 (abbreviated IL 161) is an east–west highway with its western terminus at St. Clair Avenue in Fairview Heights and its official eastern terminus at

Illinois Route 37 Illinois Route 37, Illinois 37 or IL 37, is a north–south state highway in southern Illinois. IL 37's southern terminus is at U.S. Route 51 (US 51) and IL 3 in Cairo and the northern terminus is at US 45 in Watson. Route ...

near Kell. This is an official distance of . The road continues, as various county routes, eastbound beyond Illinois 37 to Allendale at

Illinois Route 1 Illinois Route 1 (IL 1) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Illinois. Running parallel to the Indiana border, the highway starts at the free ferry crossing to Kentucky at Cave-in-Rock on the Ohio River and runs north to the south sid ...

. To locals, this part of the highway is known as "The Extension", referring to the fact that road "Extends" on after its official end.

Route description

Illinois 161 runs along portions of what once was

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...

west of Scott Air Force Base. East of Belleville, it becomes a rural, two-lane surface road. Inside the Centralia city limits, Illinois 161 is coupled into eastbound Noleman Street and westbound McCord Street at Schwartz Road.

History

SBI Route 161 originally ran from Belleville to Carlyle; in 1941 it was rerouted from Carlyle to IL 37 at its current eastern end, replacing IL 182. In 1964 it was extended west to Fairview Heights.

Major intersections

References

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161 Year 161 ( CLXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Aurelius (or, less frequently, year 914 '' Ab urbe condi ...

U.S. Route 50 Transportation in St. Clair County, Illinois Transportation in Clinton County, Illinois Transportation in Marion County, Illinois Centralia, Illinois