U.S. Route 41 (US 41) in the U.S. 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 ...
runs north from the Indiana border beneath 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 ...
on Indianapolis Boulevard to the Wisconsin border north of the northern terminus of the
Tri-State Tollway The Tri-State Tollway is a toll highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It follows:
*Interstate 80 from I-94/I-294/IL 394 in South Holland to I-294 in Hazel Crest;
* Interstate 294 from I-80/I-94/IL 394 in South Hol ...
with
Interstate 94
Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...
. It is the only north–south U.S. Route to travel through a significant portion of the city of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, carrying
Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive (officially Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Lake Shore Drive, and called DuSable Lake Shore Drive, The Outer Drive, The Drive, or LSD) is a multilevel expressway that runs alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and adjacent to ...
through the central portion of the city along the lakefront. US 41 in Illinois is in length.
Route description
![US_41_south_of_US_14](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/US_41_south_of_US_14.jpg)
US 41 enters Illinois
running concurrently with
US 12
U.S. Route 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90) and I-94, but unlike most U.S. routes tha ...
and
US 20
U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...
on the far southeast side of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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. They run together until the junction of 95th Street and Ewing Avenue. US 41, then continues down Ewing Avenue for before heading northwest–southeast along the extension of Lake Shore Drive. Lake Shore Drive continues until US 41 meets South Shore Drive and 79th Street. This is the western terminus of the Lake Shore Drive extension and US 41 continues through the South Shore neighborhood's section of South Shore Drive before reaching the southern terminus of Lake Shore Drive.
The Lake Shore Drive section of US 41 is a six- to eight-lane highway along the shores of
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
through Chicago's lakefront park system. It is a limited-access highway except for five signalized intersections near downtown Chicago.
Just short of the northern terminus of Lake Shore Drive, US 41 exits at Foster Avenue. It follows Foster Avenue west for over and then heads northwest on
Lincoln Avenue into neighboring
Lincolnwood. Between Lake Shore Drive and Lincolnwood, US 41 intersects
US 14
U.S. Route 14 (abbreviated U.S. 14 or US 14), an east–west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It currently has a length of 1,398 miles (2,250 km), but it had a peak length of 1,429 miles (2,300 km). For ...
twice; once at its terminus at Foster Avenue and Broadway, and once again at the intersection of Peterson Avenue and Lincoln Avenue.
US 41 is named Skokie Boulevard through
Skokie, then its name changes to Skokie Valley Road north of Skokie. Traveling north, it joins
I-94 (Edens Expressway) westbound just north of the
Old Orchard Shopping Center
Westfield Old Orchard, formerly Old Orchard Shopping Center, is an upscale shopping mall in the Chicago metropolitan area. It is located in Skokie, Illinois. Anchor stores include Nordstrom and Macy's.
History
Westfield Old Orchard opened in Oct ...
; they split a few miles north when US 41 becomes the Skokie Highway. The highway serves as a major north–south arterial expressway for much of its routing through Chicago's northern suburbs, as well as an oft-used alternate for truckers avoiding the cost of tolls on the
Tri-State Tollway The Tri-State Tollway is a toll highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It follows:
*Interstate 80 from I-94/I-294/IL 394 in South Holland to I-294 in Hazel Crest;
* Interstate 294 from I-80/I-94/IL 394 in South Hol ...
. Before reaching the Wisconsin border, US 41 rejoins I-94 at the northern terminus of the Tri-State Tollway; these two roads continue, toll-free, north to the Wisconsin border.
History
Initially, US 41 followed what used to be
Illinois Route 42
Sheridan Road is a major north-south street that leads from Diversey Parkway in Chicago, Illinois, north to the Illinois-Wisconsin border and beyond to Racine. Throughout most of its run, it is the easternmost north-south through street, closest ...
. In 1931, it was rerouted away from Zion and Winthrop Harbor while IL 42 north of Chicago remained untouched. In 1935, an entire section of US 41 between Chicago and Waukegan was realigned to a new alignment. The new alignment closely matched the current routing of US 41. By 1939, Skokie Highway (part of US 41) was fully completed. With the completion of the
Edens Expressway
Iens ( nl, Edens) is a small village in Súdwest-Fryslân in the province Friesland of the Netherlands with a population of around 32 in January 2017.
History
The village was first mentioned in the 13th century as Ederinghe, and means "settlem ...
in 1951, US 41 was moved onto the expressway north of Touhy Avenue. Eventually, in 1959, Interstate 94 appeared on the Edens Expressway as well as the Edens Spur and part of the
Tri-State Tollway The Tri-State Tollway is a toll highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It follows:
*Interstate 80 from I-94/I-294/IL 394 in South Holland to I-294 in Hazel Crest;
* Interstate 294 from I-80/I-94/IL 394 in South Hol ...
. In 1966, US 41 was rerouted back onto Skokie Boulevard. In 1987, the S-curve was straightened out. By 1997, the northbound lanes were moved west to the southbound lanes; eliminating the split at
Museum Campus
Museum Campus is a park in Chicago that sits alongside Lake Michigan in Grant Park and encompasses five of the city's most notable attractions: the Adler Planetarium, America's first planetarium; the Shedd Aquarium; the Field Museum of Natural ...
. Around that same year, the overpass north of I-55 became fully pedestrianized in favor of expanding
McCormick Place
McCormick Place is the largest convention center in North America. It consists of four interconnected buildings and one indoor arena sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. McCor ...
.
A $64 million Lake Shore Drive extension project, spanning from 79th Street to 92nd Street/Ewing Avenue/Harbor Avenue junctions, began in April 2012. Unlike the northern portion of LSD, the extension would function more like an
arterial road
An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector ro ...
instead of a
limited-access road
A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...
. Previously, a portion of U.S. Route 41 used to travel north through Mackinaw Avenue, west through 87th Street, north through Burley Avenue, west through 85th Street, northwest through Baker Avenue, and north through South Shore Drive until it reached 79th Street. The extension eventually opened on October 27, 2013. As a result, US 41 moved eastward onto the new road.
Major intersections
See also
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Notes
References
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External links
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{{state detail page browse, type=US, route=41, state=Illinois, stateafter=Wisconsin, statebefore=Indiana
Illinois
41
Transportation in Chicago
Transportation in Cook County, Illinois
Transportation in Lake County, Illinois