Interstate 64 (I-64) in the US state of

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 ...

is a major east–west Interstate Highway that runs through

southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

from the St. Louis metropolitan area east to the

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

state line near

Grayville, Illinois Grayville is a city in Edwards and White counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 Census, the city's population was 1,666, reflecting a decrease of 59 (-3.4%) from the 1,725 in 2000. Grayville is the birthplace of naval hero James ...

. It travels a distance of .

Route description

I-64 enters Illinois running concurrently with I–55 and U.S. Route 40 (US 40) over 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 ...

on the

Poplar Street Bridge The Congressman William L. Clay Sr. Bridge, formerly known as the Bernard F. Dickmann Bridge and popularly as the Poplar Street Bridge or PSB, completed in 1967, is a deck girder bridge across the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, ...

. After splitting from these highways in

East St. Louis 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 f ...

, I-64 turns southeasterly and proceeds through St. Clair County towards the Belleville area traveling through the eastern/southeastern St. Louis suburbs of Caseyville, Fairview Heights, O'Fallon, and Shiloh. In Shiloh, the Interstate skirts the northern edge of

Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Scott Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the U ...

and MidAmerica St. Louis Airport and provides access to

Mascoutah Mascoutah is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States, named for the Mascoutens, a tribe of the Michigan Indians. The population was 7,483 at the 2010 census. According to the US Census Bureau, the population was estimated at 7,994 i ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

via Illinois Route 4 (IL 4). A new interchange at Rieder Road was completed in September 2017 to create better access to Scott Air Force Base. As part of the new interchange, a third lane in each direction, a wide left shoulder to accommodate a future fourth lane in each direction, and a center

Jersey barrier A Jersey barrier, Jersey wall, or Jersey bump is a modular concrete or plastic barrier employed to separate lanes of traffic. It is designed to minimize vehicle damage in cases of incidental contact while still preventing vehicle crossovers resu ...

was added from west of Air Mobility Drive/ IL 158 to Rieder Road. At the St. Clair– Clinton county line, the Interstate passes the exurb of New Baden, after which it crosses the southern boundary of Clinton County and leaves the St. Louis metropolitan area. It then traverses a rural part of Illinois through

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

counties, which has no adjacent cities or major intersections passing; it reaches the city of

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

in Jefferson County, where it has a short concurrency with

I-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 ...

. Mount Vernon is the only major city and intersection served by I-64 in Illinois outside of the St. Louis metropolitan area. Past Mount Vernon, the Interstate enters another rural stretch through parts of Jefferson, Wayne, and

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

counties before crossing the

Wabash River The Wabash River ( French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows fro ...

into Indiana.

History

Starting in 1970, a small portion of I-64 opened just west of the Indiana state line. In 1973, another small portion opened just south of Mount Vernon. By 1975, two portions of I-64 (from IL 4 to I-57 and IL 111 to IL 159) opened. By 1977, the rest of the route opened. As a result of the completion, US 460 was completely removed from Illinois.

Exit list

References

External links

* {{state detail page browse, type=I, route=64, state=Illinois, stateafter=Indiana, statebefore=Missouri Illinois 64 Transportation in St. Clair County, Illinois Transportation in Clinton County, Illinois Transportation in Washington County, Illinois Transportation in Jefferson County, Illinois Transportation in Wayne County, Illinois Transportation in White County, Illinois