Illinois Route 394 (IL 394), also known as the Calumet Expressway, is a four-lane state highway that travels north from a junction with IL 1 south of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

to an interchange in

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

with

Interstate 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 N ...

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 ...

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

(I-294/I-94/I-80,

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 ...

/ Bishop Ford Freeway; this route is an extension of, but not part of the latter freeway). Although not 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 ...

, Illinois 394 is an

Interstate-standard 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 ...

highway from its junction with Sauk Trail at Sauk Village to its northern terminus at the I-294/I-94/I-80 interchange in South Holland. IL 394 functions as a bypass of IL 1 to the west, of which it was formerly part, and provides access to southern suburbs of

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Route description

IL 394 begins as a four-lane arterial at a junction with IL 1 south of

, continuing as through traffic from IL 1 north. The highway curves to the east before assuming a north–south alignment, running parallel to IL 1 to the east, heading north as a surface street arterial, before becoming an Interstate-standard freeway at an intersection with Sauk Trail in Sauk Village. Shortly thereafter, the freeway meets

U.S. Highway 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

(US 30,

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

) in Ford Heights. Continuing northward, IL 394 ends at an interchange with

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 N ...

/ I-94/

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

(

/ Bishop Ford Freeway) interchange in

History

Before taking the IL 394 designation, the route was a former alignment of IL 1. In the 1950s, a freeway, then known as the Calumet Expressway, was constructed south of Chicago as an extension of Doty Avenue. There were traffic lights at the intersections of Doty with 111th, 115th, and 130th, but interchanges were built in the early 1960s. The expressway was originally designated as IL 1, Alternate US 30, and certain portions as US 6 and IL 83. By 1964, IL 1 was restored to its old alignment along Halsted Street, and US 6 and IL 83 were routed onto Torrence Avenue, while the IL 394 designation was applied to the expressway south of the portion designated as I-94. At this time, IL 1 was discontinued north of

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 ...

. In 1962, the connection between the Calumet Expressway and Dan Ryan Expressway opened and is now signed as part of the Bishop Ford. In 1996, the Calumet Expressway was renamed in honor of Bishop Louis Henry Ford, the leader of the Church of God in Christ who had died the previous year. In 2006 and 2007, IL 394 was reconstructed north of Glenwood–Dyer Road as part of the massive Kingery Expressway reconstruction effort. The intersection with

, I-94 and

was improved. In the southbound direction, the ramps were rebuilt, with a gentler left-exit curve for I-94 to travel from the Bishop Ford to the Kingery Expressway. The cloverleaf-style ramps to southbound IL 394 were replaced with a flyover and the distributor leg of a collector–distributor ramp from eastbound I-80/I-294. In the northbound direction, a dangerous ramp to eastbound I-80/I-94 was replaced with a ramp to a set of collector–distributor lanes, intended for US 6 and IL 83 (Torrence Avenue). A cloverleaf ramp from eastbound I-80/I-294 was replaced with a flyover, and the merge area where IL 394 terminates was improved. (The I-94 ramp itself has been moved nearly a mile .6 kmeast to before Torrence Avenue). These improvements were completed in June 2007.

Future

In the late 1990s, and in July 2010, plans were rumored to upgrade IL 394 into a full Interstate. I-394 would begin at its current northern terminus and continue south towards Beecher, where the Interstate would then turn west to a southern terminus at I-57 just south of Monee. However, both proposals were never seriously taken into consideration, and the proposed upgrade is currently not a priority and no funding has been provided.

Exit list

References

External links

Illinois Highway Ends: Illinois Route 394
{{DEFAULTSORT:394 State highways in Illinois Interstate 94 Expressways in the Chicago area Transportation in Cook County, Illinois Transportation in Will County, Illinois U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 30