Illinois Route 49 (IL 49) is a north–south state highway in east-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 Willow Hill at IL 33 north to the beginning of the U.S. Route 45/ 52 concurrency near Ashkum.

Route description

Illinois 49 runs for its length entirely as an undivided surface highway. It serves minor cities between

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 the east and

Interstate 57 Interstate 57 (I-57) is a north–south Interstate Highway in Missouri and Illinois that parallels the old Illinois Central Railroad for much of its route. It runs from Sikeston, Missouri, at I-55 to Chicago, Illinois, at I-94. I-57 essen ...

to the west.

History

SBI Route 49 originally ran from Willow Hill all the way to

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

along what is now U.S. Route 52/45 and

Illinois Route 50 Illinois Route 50 (IL 50) is a north–south state road in northeastern Illinois. It runs from the junction with U.S. Route 45 (US 45) and U.S. Route 52 (US 52) in West Kankakee north to US 41 in Skokie. In Chicago and the sub ...

. In February 1933, the section of IL 49 from Kankakee to Chicago was designated as part of the Egyptian Highway. In 1942,

U.S. Route 54 U.S. Route 54 (US 54) is an east–west United States Highway that runs northeast–southwest for from El Paso, Texas, to Griggsville, Illinois. The Union Pacific Railroad's Tucumcari Line (former Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific and ...

was extended to Chicago along Illinois 49 north of Kankakee. In 1969, Illinois 49 was truncated to its current northern end. When U.S. 54 was pulled back to

Pittsfield Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

in 1972, Illinois 50 took the place of Illinois 49 and U.S. 54.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{ccat
Illinois Highway Ends: Illinois Route 49
049 U.S. Route 52 U.S. Route 45 Transportation in Jasper County, Illinois Transportation in Cumberland County, Illinois Transportation in Clark County, Illinois Transportation in Coles County, Illinois Transportation in Edgar County, Illinois Transportation in Douglas County, Illinois Transportation in Champaign County, Illinois Transportation in Vermilion County, Illinois Transportation in Iroquois County, Illinois