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Interstate 88 (I-88) is an
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 the US state of Illinois that runs from an interchange with I-80 near Silvis and Moline to an interchange with
I-290 Interstate 290 may refer to the following Interstate Highways in the United States: *Interstate 290 (Illinois), a highway from Chicago, Illinois, to Rolling Meadows, Illinois *Interstate 290 (Massachusetts) Interstate 290 (I-290) is an auxiliar ...
and
I-294 Interstate 294 (I-294) is a tolled auxiliary Interstate Highway in northeastern Illinois. It forms the southern portion of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois. I-294 runs from South Holland at I-80/ I-94 and Illinois Route 394 (IL 394) to ...
in Hillside, near Chicago. I-88 is long. This route is not contiguous with
I-88 Interstate 88 may refer to either of two United States Interstate highways: * Interstate 88 (Illinois), running from East Moline to Hillside * Interstate 88 (New York) Interstate 88 (I-88) is an Interstate Highway located entirely with ...
in New York. Since 2010, most of I-88 has been part of the
Chicago–Kansas City Expressway The Chicago–Kansas City Expressway is a highway that runs between Chicago, Illinois, and Kansas City, Missouri. The road is known as Route 110 in Missouri and Illinois Route 110 (IL 110) in Illinois. IL 110 was created through legislation ...
. The highway also runs through the cities of
Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
,
Naperville Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was established by the banks of the DuPage rive ...
, DeKalb, and
Dixon Dixon may refer to: Places International * Dixon Entrance, part of the Inside Passage between Alaska and British Columbia Canada * Dixon, Ontario United States * Dixon, California * Dixon, Illinois * Dixon, Greene County, Indiana * Dixon, In ...
. East of Rock Falls, the route is a part of the
Illinois Tollway The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) is an administrative agency of the U.S. state of Illinois charged with building, operating, and maintaining toll roads in the state. The roads, as well as the authority itself, are sometimes referr ...
system.


Route description

I-88 runs concurrently with
Illinois Route 110 110 may refer to: * 110 (number), natural number *AD 110, a year * 110 BC, a year *110 film, a cartridge-based film format used in still photography * 110 (MBTA bus), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route * 110 (song), 2019 song by ...
(IL 100) and its speed limit is west of IL 47.


East Moline to Yeoward Addition

Starting at I-80 at a
cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange (road), interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes ...
, IL 5 ends there while IL 92 continues eastward. I-88 begins at that interchange and then traverses eastward. Immediately east of the cloverleaf, I-88, IL 92, and IL 110 meet a road at a
diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...
. This road used to be part of IL 2 and IL 92. They then traverse eastward until IL 92 branches off east near Joslin. The freeway then meets the next two local roads, each having a diamond interchange. One of the interchanges serves Hillsdale while the other one serves
Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
. The two routes then meet IL 78 near Lyndon. Near
Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps has m ...
, they then meet US 30 at a trumpet interchange. South of Rock Falls, they then meet IL 40 at a diamond interchange. East of Yeoward Addition, they again meet US Route 30 (US 30) at a diamond interchange.


Yeoward Addition to Aurora

At this point, a freeway becomes a tollway for the rest of I-88. However, at the IL 26 interchange, there are no tolls present on each ramp. Beyond that, the tollway crosses under US 52 without direct access. Then, the two routes meet their first mainline toll plaza. Further east, they then meet IL 251 (at a diamond interchange) and
I-39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a highway in the Midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois, at I-55 to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) in the town of Rib Mountain, Wisconsin, which is approximately south of Wausau. ...
/ US 51 (at a cloverleaf interchange) at Rochelle. From then on, they meet another mainline
toll plaza A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...
. In DeKalb, they then meet Annie Glidden Road at a trumpet interchange, then crossing over IL 23 without direct access meeting an oasis (a rest area) and Peace Road at a four-ramp
parclo A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...
. South of Nottingham Woods, they meet IL 47 at a five-ramp parclo with two ramps requiring
I-Pass I-Pass (stylized as I-PASS) is the electronic toll collection system utilized by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) on its toll highways that launched on November 18, 1993, with the opening of Interstate 355 (Veterans Memorial To ...
. Further east, they then meet IL 56 at a partial interchange. At this point, IL 56 follows the two routes. They then meet Orchard Road at a four-ramp parclo. Then, IL 56 leaves the freeway at the IL 31 interchange.


Aurora to Hillside

Across the Fox River, I-88 and IL 110 meet another toll plaza. Then, they meet Farnsworth Avenue at a six-ramp parclo near the Chicago Premium Outlets. From then on, they meet Eola Road indirectly, IL 59 at a diverging diamond interchange, Winfield Road at a diamond interchange, Naperville Road at a mix of partial interchanges, and IL 53 at an incomplete parclo. Beyond that, they meet I-355 at a mix of interchanges. At Highland Avenue interchange, all but the westbound onramp are present. The other one enters I-88 westbound from Downers Drive. After that, the eastbound tollway meets another mainline toll plaza. After that, I-88 and IL 110 then meet Midwest Road at a two-ramp incomplete parclo (no westbound on/offramp). Then, they meet IL 83 at a three-ramp incomplete parclo, 22nd Street at a right-in/right-out (no eastbound on/offramp), another mainline toll plaza for westbound traffic, and I-294/ IL 38. Beyond I-294/IL 38, I-88 briefly leaves the tollway before ending at I-290. At that point, IL 110 continues eastward via I-290.


History

Prior to its designation as an Interstate Highway, the route was known as IL 5 and, before that, IL 190. In 1975, IL 5 was extended westward to Rock Falls. Back then, only a small portion south of Rock Falls was free. At that point, there were two proposed freeways connecting each individual cities, FAP 402 (a proposed freeway to
Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,469 as of 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt Clin ...
) and FAP 403 (another proposed freeway to East Moline). However, only FAP 403 was being built. By 1979, IL 5 finished completing the FAP 403 freeway. The reason for I-88's original designation and continued existence as an Interstate has to do with a technicality in the old National Maximum Speed Law (NMSL). Originally passed in 1973, the NMSL was amended in 1987 to permit speed limits on rural stretches of Interstate Highways only. Even though IL 5 was fully up to
Interstate Highway standards Standards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in the publication ''A Policy on Design Standards: Interstate System''. For a certain highway to ...
, it still had to carry a limit because of this wording in NMSL. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) petitioned the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United S ...
(AASHTO) to redesignate IL 5 as an Interstate, and, in 1987, AASHTO approved the request and assigned the I-88 numbering to the highway. The NMSL would be completely repealed only eight years later in 1995, but the I-88 shields remain to this day, even though
Chicago–Kansas City Expressway The Chicago–Kansas City Expressway is a highway that runs between Chicago, Illinois, and Kansas City, Missouri. The road is known as Route 110 in Missouri and Illinois Route 110 (IL 110) in Illinois. IL 110 was created through legislation ...
(IL 110) markers are being posted throughout the entire length of I-88, since it is now part of the Chicago to Kansas City Expressway project, bannered with special "CKC" logos.


Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway

The Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway, originally known as the East-West Tollway, is a toll road in northern Illinois. Opened November 21, 1958, it was initially designated as US Route 30 Toll (US 30 Toll), and later IL 190. The original routing extended from the
I-294 Interstate 294 (I-294) is a tolled auxiliary Interstate Highway in northeastern Illinois. It forms the southern portion of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois. I-294 runs from South Holland at I-80/ I-94 and Illinois Route 394 (IL 394) to ...
interchange near Hillside to IL 47 near Sugar Grove. IL 56 was overlapped on the East-West Tollway between North Aurora and Sugar Grove in 1965. When the East-West Tollway was extended to
Dixon Dixon may refer to: Places International * Dixon Entrance, part of the Inside Passage between Alaska and British Columbia Canada * Dixon, Ontario United States * Dixon, California * Dixon, Illinois * Dixon, Greene County, Indiana * Dixon, In ...
in the 1970s, the IL 190 numbering was removed from the stretch between
Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
and Sugar Grove, making that section strictly IL 56. Once complete, the new routing of the combined tollway and freeway between I-80 near the Quad Cities and I-294 became designated as IL 5. In the late 1980s, it was renumbered I-88. Officially, the tollway portion begins in Rock Falls, starting at the intersection with US 30 at milemarker 44, although the first toll plaza does not appear until after the IL 26 interchange in Dixon, making the section between US 30 and IL 26 technically a freeway. It continues as a tollway until its terminus in Hillside, although there is a free section between exit 76 ( IL 251) and exit 78 (
I-39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a highway in the Midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois, at I-55 to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) in the town of Rib Mountain, Wisconsin, which is approximately south of Wausau. ...
). West of US 30 to I-80, I-88 is a freeway. The tollway portion is long. After the death of Illinois native and former President Ronald Reagan in 2004, ISTHA voted to rename the toll roadway "Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway" in his memory, as it passes near his birthplace of Tampico and grazes the south outskirts of his boyhood hometown of
Dixon Dixon may refer to: Places International * Dixon Entrance, part of the Inside Passage between Alaska and British Columbia Canada * Dixon, Ontario United States * Dixon, California * Dixon, Illinois * Dixon, Greene County, Indiana * Dixon, In ...
. The tollway portion of I-88 was previously known as the "East–West Tollway" and is still displayed as such on some signs near Chicago. There is no direct off-ramp access to US 52, IL 23, IL 25, and IL 83 (northbound). In addition, I-88 merges with IL 56 for a short distance. Although a federal law, 23 U.S.C. § 111, prohibits the operation of commercial rest areas constructed after January 1, 1960, on Interstate Highways, the DeKalb oasis was constructed at milepost 93 in 1975, prior to the route's designation as I-88, and remains in operation. From 2005 lasting through 2012, ISTHA reconstructed and widened much of the original portion of I-88, between York Road and IL 56. Approximately $991.6 million (equivalent to $ in ) was budgeted for I-88 over that period. Between 2005 and 2009, I-88 was reconstructed and widened to four lanes in each direction between IL 59 and York Road, with work progressing gradually from west to east. The project included a reconstruction and reconfiguration of the Naperville Road interchange. Between IL 56 and the Aurora Toll Plaza, I-88 was reconstructed and widened to three lanes in each direction, including the reconstruction of the IL 31 interchange and new bridges over the Fox River.


Exit list


References


External links


Illinois Highway Ends: Interstate 88Historic, Current & Average Travel Times For The Ronald Reagan TollwayIllinois Tollway website
{{interstates 88 west 88 088 Expressways in the Chicago area Transportation in Rock Island County, Illinois Transportation in Whiteside County, Illinois Transportation in Lee County, Illinois Transportation in Ogle County, Illinois Transportation in DeKalb County, Illinois Transportation in Kane County, Illinois Transportation in DuPage County, Illinois Transportation in Cook County, Illinois