Illinois Route 17 (IL 17) is a rural, arterial east–west state highway that runs east from a former

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

crossing in New Boston along the banks of 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, ...

Illinois Highway Ends
Illinois 17
. Retrieved April 21, 2006. to State Road 2 west of

Lowell, Indiana Lowell is a town in West Creek and Cedar Creek townships, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 9,276 at the 2010 census. History Lowell was platted in 1853. It was named after Lowell, Massachusetts. The James Brannon House ...

. It is long.

Route description

Illinois 17 is the main street for numerous small towns in west central and central Illinois. It crosses the

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the ...

at Lacon, and passes through Dwight and Kankakee, before it joins with

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 ...

and enters

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 st ...

east of Grant Park. Illinois 17 also overlaps with

U.S. Route 34 U.S. Route 34 (US 34) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from north-central Colorado to the western suburbs of Chicago. Through Rocky Mountain National Park it is known as the Trail Ridge Road where it reaches elevation ...

Illinois Route 251 Illinois Route 251 is a north–south state highway that runs on the former alignment of U.S. Route 51 before Interstate 39 was built in north central Illinois. It runs from U.S. 51 at the border with Wisconsin to I-39 and U.S. 51 south of K ...

(old U.S. Route 51), and

Illinois Route 40 Illinois Route 40 (IL 40) is a north–south route in central portion of the U.S. state of Illinois. It runs from Interstate 74 (I-74) in East Peoria north to IL 78 at Mt. Carroll, just south of U.S. Route 52 (US 52) and IL 64. Route ...

south of Wyoming. It also crosses the

Kankakee River The Kankakee River is a tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long, in the Central Corn Belt Plains of northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. At one time, the river drained one of the largest wetlands in ...

at Kankakee, IL. The route is largely a 2 lane road except through towns, where it occasionally becomes a 2 lane road with a center turn lane. East of Kankakee, Illinois 17 becomes a 4-lane divided highway. Illinois Routes 17 and 47

At its western terminus, Illinois 17 is one of the only routes in the state not to connect to a state highway or U.S. Route of another state. A ferry crossing to Iowa had been dropped in the 1950s, but the terminus has not been moved east to reflect this. In 2003, the discovery that the Mississippi River had deepened at a nearby location raised the possibility of returning ferry service to New Boston.Rodriguez, Jason. "Is New Boston Ferry Feasible Again?" ''Quad-Cities Online''
http://qconline.com/progress2003/prog_dsplay.cgi?pr3!id!144550
February 14, 2004. URL retrieved April 21, 2006. Ferry service in New Boston would be expected to bring 15,000 cars across the river yearly, saving the vehicles from driving to either Burlington, Iowa or

Muscatine, Iowa Muscatine ( ) is a city in Muscatine County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,797 at the time of the 2020 census, an increase from 22,697 in 2000. The county seat of Muscatine County, it is located along the Mississippi River. The lo ...

— distances of about 50 miles (80 km) — to cross over into Iowa.

History

SBI Route 17 originally ran from Lacon to Grant Park. The only changes to Route 17 have been extensions east and west, and a relocation to a new road south of Streator. Illinois Route 83A connected Illinois Route 83 (now Illinois Route 17) to Keithsburg.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Illinois Route 17 017 Transportation in Mercer County, Illinois Transportation in Henry County, Illinois Transportation in Knox County, Illinois Transportation in Stark County, Illinois Transportation in Marshall County, Illinois Transportation in LaSalle County, Illinois Transportation in Livingston County, Illinois Transportation in Kankakee County, Illinois

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links