U.S. Route 20 (US 20) in the U.S. state of
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
is a major arterial highway that runs from the
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
state line at
East Dubuque at the northwestern tip of Illinois, 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 at
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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south of the
Chicago Skyway
Interstate 90 (I-90) in the US state of Illinois runs roughly northwest-to-southeast through the northern part of the state. From the Wisconsin state line at South Beloit, it heads south to Rockford before heading east-southeast to the ...
, a distance of .
For its entire length, US 20 is designated as the General
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
Highway, often abbreviated the U.S. Grant Memorial Highway. However, this name is only commonly used west of
Elgin. US 20 bypasses the city of Elgin on a
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
known as the Elgin Bypass or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Highway. From Elgin to
Melrose Park, US 20 follows
Lake Street. It then follows
Mannheim Road, and further south ''La Grange Road''. US 20 also follows
95th Street as it turns east through Chicago's southwestern suburbs. It ultimately leaves Illinois on Indianapolis Boulevard.
Route description
Northwest Illinois
As the highway enters Illinois across the
Julien Dubuque Bridge
The Julien Dubuque Bridge is a bridge over the Mississippi River that connects Dubuque, Iowa and East Dubuque, Illinois. The bridge is part of U.S. Route 20 (US 20). It is one of two automobile bridges over the Mississippi in the area (the ...
, it continues southeasterly for a while, paralleling the
Upper Mississippi River
The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, at the confluence of its main tributary, the Missouri River.
History
In terms of geologic and hydrographic history, the Upper ...
before turning east into the rugged country of the
Driftless Area
The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois.
Never covered by ice during the las ...
in
Jo Daviess County
Jo Daviess County () is the northwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 22,678. Its county seat is Galena.
Jo Daviess County is part of the Tri-State Area and is located near D ...
, then turning flat and straight west of
Stockton, Illinois and entering
Stephenson County. The
Ulysses S. Grant Home, a national landmark, fronts near the highway at the eastern edge of
Galena, Illinois
Galena is the largest city in and the county seat of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, with a population of 3,308 at the 2020 census. A section of the city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Galena Historic District. The c ...
.
The road between Dubuque and Stockton was once known as the most dangerous stretch of road because of the hills and curves flanked by cliffs and valleys. Travelers were greeted with signs reminding them to drive carefully as they entered this stretch of road.
In
Freeport, US 20 is routed onto a limited-access freeway bypass. Between Freeport and Rockford there are two
traffic light
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic.
Traffic light ...
-controlled intersections. The
Rockford bypass routes US 20 onto a full limited-access
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
; it remains this way until it
overlap
Overlap may refer to:
* In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram.
* In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases
* O ...
s
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. I- ...
southeast of downtown Rockford.
Rockford to Elgin
East of Rockford, the routing of US 20 runs parallel with
I-90; US 20 serves minor cities that are not accessible from the
Jane Addams Memorial Tollway
Interstate 90 (I-90) in the US state of Illinois runs roughly northwest-to-southeast through the northern part of the state. From the Wisconsin state line at South Beloit, it heads south to Rockford before heading east-southeast to the ...
. It is a four-lane divided highway from I-39 to just east of
Belvidere; for the rest of this segment, it is a winding, rural two-lane road.
US 20 travels through the downtowns of the small towns and unincorporated areas of
Garden Prairie,
Harmony and
Starks, as well as the city of
Marengo. At Starks, eastbound US 20 overlaps southbound
Illinois Route 47
Illinois Route 47 (IL 47) is a largely rural north–south state highway that runs from the Wisconsin state border at Highway 120 near Hebron, to IL 10, just south of Interstate 72 (I-72) near Seymour. IL 47 is in primarily rural ...
and westbound
Illinois Route 72
Illinois Route 72 is an east–west state road in northern Illinois. It runs from the intersection with Illinois Route 73 north of Lanark east to Illinois Route 43 (Harlem Avenue) in Chicago. This is a distance of .
Route description
Ill ...
, forming a
wrong-way concurrency
A concurrency in a road network is an instance of one physical roadway bearing two or more different route numbers. When two roadways share the same right-of-way, it is sometimes called a common section or commons. Other terminology for a concurr ...
. All three routes pass beneath a railroad viaduct before separating south of Starks.
Continuing east, US 20 travels through
Pingree Grove before entering the
Elgin area. Before entering Elgin, US 20 widens to a four lane limited-access freeway that bypasses Elgin, around the town's south end. This road is known as the Elgin Bypass.
Elgin to Indiana
At the end of the Elgin bypass, US 20 takes on the name of Lake Street. US 20 has numerous high-volume intersections, including a grade-separated interchange with
Illinois Route 59
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...
. In
Hanover Park, an early-2000s reconstruction project widened lanes on the road and created a median for safer travel; east of Barrington Road / County Farm Road, the road briefly becomes six lanes for one mile (1.6 km) until the
Elgin–O'Hare Expressway.
US 20 continues in an east-southeast direction through the town center of
Bloomingdale and becomes six lanes at the Bloomingdale-
Roselle border. It maintains six lanes through a very high traffic corridor to
Interstate 290 and onwards to
Illinois Route 53
Illinois Route 53 (IL 53) is an arterial north–south state highway in northeast Illinois. IL 53 runs from Main Street west of historic U.S. Route 66 (US 66) in Gardner to IL 83 in Long Grove, a distance of . It mainly ...
before it returns to four lanes while serving downtown
Addison
Addison may refer to:
Places Canada
* Addison, Ontario
United States
*Addison, Alabama
*Addison, Illinois
*Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois which runs by Wrigley Field
* Addison, Kentucky
*Addison, Maine
*Addison, Michigan
*Addison, New York
...
, paralleling Interstate 290 to the north. Past
Elmhurst, the road overlaps Interstate 290 for a mile.
US 20 continues through
Stone Park and
Melrose Park before turning south and joining U.S. Routes
12/
45 on
Mannheim Road. In
La Grange, the combined U.S. 12, 20, and 45 traveling on La Grange Road intersect with
Ogden Avenue
Ogden Avenue is a street extending from the Near West Side of Chicago to Montgomery, Illinois. It was named for William B. Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago.
The street follows the route of the Southwestern Plank Road, which opened in 1848 acr ...
, which carries
U.S. 34, one of the few places where four US numbered highways intersect. La Grange Road continues south until U.S. 20 turns onto
95th Street eastbound with U.S. 12. This combination later joins with
U.S. Route 41
U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...
, where the three routes follow Ewing Avenue and Indianapolis Boulevard, which are the last portions of US 20 prior to its crossing the state line into Indiana.
History
The routing of US 20 has not changed since 1938. Prior to 1938, US 20 continued east on Lake Street east of Mannheim Road (US 12/US 45). It ran through downtown Chicago and exited Chicago south on what is now Torrence Avenue.
[ In 1955, the Illinois General Assembly designated the entire length of US 20 in Illinois the "U.S. Grant Memorial Highway". New signs were produced in late 2007 to reflect this designation along its entire length.]
Elgin Bypass
Construction of the Golf Road (Illinois Route 58
Illinois Route 58 (IL 58, Illinois 58), also known as Golf Road for most of its route, is a state highway in northeast Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 25 (Liberty Street) in Elgin east to U.S. Route 41 (Skokie Boulevard) in Skokie. This ...
) extension to Summit Street in Elgin was completed in 1932. In 1958, Interstate 90 (I-90) was built through the north side of Elgin extending east to Devon Avenue, and on to Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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by 1960. In 1935, concerned about increasing numbers of traffic, residents of Elgin laid plans to build a bypass. US 20 had been routed down Villa Street, Highland Avenue, and Larkin Avenue through downtown Elgin. 27 years later, a section of freeway opened south of Elgin as the Elgin Bypass.
The segment of the Elgin Bypass between McLean Boulevard and Grace Street (Illinois Route 25
Illinois Route 25 (IL 25) is a state route in northeast Illinois. It runs north from U.S. Route 34 in Oswego to Illinois Route 62 (Algonquin Road) in Algonquin. Illinois 25 is in length.
Route description
Illinois Route 25 was opened in Aug ...
), including the Fox River bridge, was opened first. Later, the outer segments of the bypass – to Randall Road on the west, and Bluff City Boulevard on the east – were opened. On November 30, 1962, Governor Otto Kerner Jr.
Otto Kerner Jr. (August 15, 1908 – May 9, 1976) was an American jurist and politician who served as the 33rd governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968 and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ...
dedicated the Elgin Bypass.
From 1962 until 1984, the old route was designated as US 20 Business.
In 2012-2016, the interchange between the Elgin Bypass and McLean Blvd was upgraded to a SPUI
A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thr ...
, the bridge was widened and replaced and portions of the Bypass were repaved at a cost of $44.4 million.
In 2019, the interchange between the Elgin Bypass and Randall Road
Randall Road is a major north-south county highway in McHenry and Kane County, Illinois. The road is named after Norman Randall, a prominent area landowner in the 1930s. It serves as the western extent of the Fox Valley suburbs in the Chicago m ...
received a $9 million upgrade so that northbound Randall Road traffic can enter the eastbound Elgin Bypass without making a left turn at a traffic light.
Starting in 2014, a comprehensive study of the Elgin Bypass corridor resulted in a number of recommendations including a wider bridge across the Fox River, a replacement bridge for IL-31 crossing the bypass and replacement of other bridges. The 2019 estimates of the recommended improvements total $84 million, with $10.6 million designated for the IL-31 bridge.
Future
Long range plans call for US 20 to be upgraded to a four lane highway from Rockford to East Dubuque. The project dates back to the 1970s, when a major supplemental freeway system was proposed in Illinois. US 20 has been completed as a four lane freeway/expressway combination between Rockford and Freeport as well as Galena and East Dubuque. The remaining gap between Freeport and Galena is planned to be filled, but efforts have stalled in recent years, mainly due to funding issues.
Major intersections
Business routes
US 20 has been rerouted around the cities of Freeport, Rockford, Elgin and Chicago
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. A bypass is currently planned for Galena.
The longest Business US 20 in Illinois runs from just west of Rockford to just east of Belvidere. The route begins just west of Weldon Road and runs as State Street into downtown Rockford, where it is split into two one-way streets (Chestnut Street and Walnut Street for eastbound traffic, Jefferson Street for westbound traffic). The route continues east along State Street all the way through Rockford and becomes a two-lane highway between Rockford and Belvidere. Business US 20 is then routed in an outer loop around the city of Belvidere before merging back with US 20 near Genoa Road and I-90.
Business US 20 in Elgin was removed in 1984. This ran along Larkin Avenue, Highland Avenue, Chicago Street and Villa Avenue. The current routing of US 20 south of Elgin is called the Elgin Bypass.
Business US 20 in Chicago was removed in 1968. This existed from 1960 through 1968; before then, it was City US 20 from 1938 to 1960.[
]
See also
*Stagecoach Trail
Stagecoach Trail is a historic route through northern Jo Daviess County and western Stephenson County, in the northwest of Illinois. The trail was a part of the larger Galena–Chicago trail that crossed almost the entire state.
Stagecoach Tra ...
References
External links
Project study page
{{state detail page browse, type=US, route=20, state=Illinois, stateafter=Indiana, statebefore=Iowa
20
Illinois
Transportation in Jo Daviess County, Illinois
Transportation in Stephenson County, Illinois
Transportation in Winnebago County, Illinois
Transportation in Boone County, Illinois
Transportation in McHenry County, Illinois
Transportation in Kane County, Illinois
Transportation in DuPage County, Illinois
Transportation in Cook County, Illinois
Transportation in Chicago