Illinois Route 76 is a north–south state highway in far north-central
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 ...
. It runs from the
US 20 Bus. in
Belvidere north to the
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
State Line at
State Trunk Highway 140. This is a distance of .
Route description
Illinois 76 is an undivided two-lane rural highway for its entire length. Starting in
US 20 Bus. in Belvidere, IL 76 travels north. It then intersects
Illinois Route 173
Illinois Route 173 (IL 173) is a east–west state highway that runs from Illinois Route 251 in the Rockford suburb of Machesney Park east to Illinois Route 137 (Sheridan Road/Buckley) in Zion near the Illinois-Wisconsin border. Illinois ...
near Poplar Grove. At the Wisconsin state line, IL 76 curves west. As soon as the road curves north, it enters Wisconsin. At that point, the road becomes
WIS 140.
History
Initially, only the section between IL 173 and US 20/IL 5 (now mostly US 20 Bus.) in downtown Belvidere was signed as IL 76. In 1935, IL 76 extended north to the state line. Also, IL 76 was slightly truncated due to the rerouting of US 20. Also, IL 5 then only appeared on the former stretch of US 20 from Rockford to Belvidere. Since 1967, part of IL 5 became part of US 20. Another truncation happened in Belvidere. Since 1989, US 20 Bus. bypassed downtown Belvidere. As a result, IL 76 no longer ended in downtown but instead ended north of downtown.
Major intersections
References
{{reflist
External links
Illinois Highway Ends: Illinois Route 76
076
Transportation in Boone County, Illinois
Belvidere, Illinois