Interstate 57 (I-57) is a north–south

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

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 essentially serves as a shortcut route for travelers headed between the South ( Memphis, New Orleans, etc.) and Chicago, bypassing St. Louis, Missouri and

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

. Between the junction of I-55 and I-57 in Sikeston and the junction of I-55 and I-90/I-94 in Chicago, I-55 travels for , while the combination of I-57 and I-94 is only long between the same two points. In fact, both the control cities on the overhead signs and the destination mileage signs reference Memphis along southbound I-57, even as far north as its northern origin at I-94 in Chicago. Likewise, at its southern end, Chicago is the control city listed for I-57 on signs on northbound I-55 south of Sikeston, even though I-55 also goes to Chicago. , I-57 has no spur routes nor are any planned for the near future. At a length of just over , it is the second-longest two-digit Interstate Highway without an auxiliary route, behind

I-49 Interstate 49 (I-49) is a north–south Interstate Highway that exists in multiple segments: the original portion entirely within the state of Louisiana with an additional signed portion extending from Interstate 220 (Louisiana), I-220 in S ...

. I-57 has one business loop in Charleston, Missouri.

Route description

Missouri

In the state of Missouri, I-57 runs northbound from Sikeston to the Cairo I-57 Bridge over the Mississippi River north of

Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysses ...

. After ending southbound at I-55, the highway continues as U.S. Route 60 (US 60), which meets US 67 at Poplar Bluff, and, from there, US 67 goes south to Little Rock, Arkansas. From the start of I-57 northbound, the US 60 concurrency goes about .

Illinois

In the state of Illinois, I-57 runs from the bridge over the Mississippi River north to Chicago. I-57 is the longest Interstate Highway in Illinois. Its route follows essentially the earlier route of US 51 in southernmost Illinois (US 51 has been diverted to I-57 where I-57 has always been close to old US 51 between Future City and Dongola) before taking a northeastward diagonal to Illinois Route 37 (IL 37), which remains intact as a town-to-town through route, past its interchange with

I-24 Interstate 24 (I-24) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It runs diagonally from I-57, south of Marion, Illinois, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at I-75. It travels through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, ...

(the northwestern terminus of I-24) near Pulleys Mill and a short duplex with I-64 near Mount Vernon north to Effingham, where it has a short concurrence with I-70. It then follows US 45, bypassing Champaign (where it meets I-72 and I-74), and heads north to Onarga, whereafter it follows the formerly duplex path of US 45 and (now decommissioned in most of Illinois) old US 54 to Kankakee. At Kankakee, it heads northward largely parallel to the now decommissioned route of old US 54 (since renumbered largely as IL 50) into the Chicago area, meeting I-80 in Hazel Crest, I-294 in Blue Island, and feeding I-94 on Chicago's South Side. The route is an easy way for Chicagoans to reach Shawnee National Forest in the southern tip of the state. It also serves as a major artery for college students in the state, running near Shawnee Community College in

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, the main campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, John A. Logan College in Carterville, Morthland College in

West Frankfort West Frankfort is a city in Franklin County, Illinois. The population was 8,182 at the 2010 census. The city is well known for its rich history of coal. The city is part of the Metro Lakeland area. History Although one might associate the name ...

, Rend Lake College in Ina, Lake Land College in Mattoon,

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

, Parkland College in Champaign, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in Urbana–Champaign,

Kankakee Community College Kankakee Community College (KCC) is a public community college in Kankakee, Illinois. The main campus is located on the southern border of the city of Kankakee and spans along the banks of the Kankakee River. KCC is accredited by the Commissi ...

in Kankakee, Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, and Governors State University in University Park. I-57 remains the only Chicago expressway that does not have a commonly used name. Its Chicago-area portion was formerly known as the Dan Ryan Expressway–West Leg. I-57 was named the Ken Gray Expressway in southern Illinois after former US Congressman Ken Gray (West Frankfort) for his work on getting the route planned through southern Illinois. A segment from Wentworth to Sauk Trail has been designated the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Trail, but this is not intended as a navigational name.

History

The oldest segment of I-57 is a strip running east of Bradley to Kankakee labeled on the 1959 Illinois state highway map. Two years later, a stretch of I-57 from Dongola north to Marion opened on September 26, 1961. Another portion between the IL 121/ US 45 exit and the

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–Mason exit was completed and opened prior to July 1965, linking I-57 to I-70 and running in tandem with I-70 for several miles, with access to Indianapolis, Indiana, to the east and St. Louis, Missouri, to the west. A section of I-57 in Jefferson County from Bonnie (using a temporary road that is still partially visible from the northbound lanes) to IL 161 later opened on December 9, 1969. The portion of I-57 in Chicago (known as the Dan Ryan West Leg Extension) was constructed and opened in segments between 1963 and 1970. It remains the most recent Interstate Highway to be established within the city. The final section of I-57 in Illinois opened in December 1971 at Paxton. The portion of I-43 from Milwaukee to Green Bay was originally numbered as Interstate 57. The number was changed due to the existence of I-57 in Illinois. I-57 was widened to six lanes in Effingham from 2011 until 2016. For many years, an interchange at the junction of I-57 with I-294 did not exist. It was one of the few places in the US where Interstates cross but have no interchange. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) opened Phase 1 of a new interchange in 2014, providing access from I-57 north to I-294 north and from I-294 south to I-57 south. Phase 2 which completed the remaining movements except for northbound I-57 to southbound I-294 and northbound I-294 to southbound I-57 was opened to traffic on September 11, 2022.

Future

I-57 is slated to eventually be extended west along US 60 to Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and then south along the US 67 corridor to North Little Rock, Arkansas, ending at I-40. In April 2016, a provision designating US 67 from North Little Rock to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, as "Future I-57" was added into the federal fiscal year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding bill and officially became law in 2017. Missouri has already upgraded of the US 60/US 67 corridor between Sikeston and Route 158 near Harviell to a mixture of freeway and expressway segments. All at-grade crossings along the corridor would have to be eliminated before the Interstate designation could be applied. A new freeway segment from Route 158 to just south of Neelyville near County Road 274 (about north of the Arkansas border) has been announced as part of a cost share program and is in the planning stages. In August 2022, redesign of the US 67 and U.S. Route 160/ Route 158 interchange began. In Arkansas, of Interstate-grade US 67 runs from I-40 to US 412 in Walnut Ridge, leaving a segment of approximately of new Interstate-grade highway along US 67 that still needs to be built in northeastern Arkansas. On February 23, 2018, Arkansas state officials unveiled a "Future I-57" sign to be posted along the corridor of US 67.

Exit list

Charleston business loop

Interstate 57 Business (I-57 Bus.) in Charleston begins at I-57 exit 10. From this diamond interchange, it runs north in a concurrency with Route 105 along South Main Street into the city center. It then turns east onto Marshall Street, which also carries US 62 and Route 77. The business route ends at I-57 exit 12, with US 62 and Route 77 continuing to the east.

References

External links