Interstate 74 (I-74) in the US 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 northwest–southeast Interstate Highway that runs across the central portion of the state. It 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 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, it fl ...

near the city of Rock Island and runs southeast 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 east of Danville, a distance of . The highway runs through the major cities of

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

, Bloomington, Peoria, and Moline. The highway is officially named after

Everett McKinley Dirksen Everett McKinley Dirksen (January 4, 1896 – September 7, 1969) was an American politician. A Republican, he represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. As Senate Minority Leader from 1959 unt ...

, a Republican senator and representative from Pekin from 1933 to his death in 1969.

Route description

I-74 in Illinois runs parallel with U.S. Route 6 (US 6) in the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...

, US 150 from the Quad Cities to Danville, and US 136 east of Danville.

Iowa state line to Bloomington–Normal

After crossing the Iowa state line and the

via the

I-74 Bridge The Interstate 74 Bridge, officially known as the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge, and often called ''The Twin Bridges'', or the ''I-74 Bridge'', are basket-handle, through arch twin bridges that carry Interstate 74 across the Mississippi River ...

( through arch span), I-74, as well as US 6, enters the city of Moline. At first, the freeway travels southward, meeting River Drive,

Illinois Route 92 Illinois Route 92 (IL 92 or Route 92) is an east–west state highway in northwest Illinois. It runs from the Norbert F. Beckey Bridge across the Mississippi River where it meets the eastern end of Iowa Highway 92, east to U.S. Route ...

(IL 92, 6th Avenue), 7th Avenue, Avenue of the Cities, and IL 5 (John Deere Road), before reaching

I-280 Interstate 280 may refer to multiple highways, all of which are or were related to Interstate 80: * Interstate 280 (California), a north–south freeway running from San Jose to San Francisco * Interstate 280 (Iowa–Illinois), part of the beltway ...

. Near the

Quad Cities International Airport Quad Cities International Airport is a public airport in Rock Island County, Illinois, three miles (5 km) south of Moline, partly in Blackhawk Township and partly in Coal Valley Township. In 2012 it was named "Illinois Primary Airport o ...

, I-74 turns eastward along I-280 while US 6 continues south for a short distance. Southeast of Colona, I-280 ends at the

Big X is a science fiction manga series and an anime series by Osamu Tezuka, based on actual experiments conducted by the Nazis to create secret weapons toward the end of World War II. The anime, which was Tokyo Movie Shinsha's first work, is c ...

interchange while I-74 turns southward via ramps. This interchange is also where

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 ...

turns east via ramps. At this point, I-74 runs along IL 110 all the way to Galesburg. Along the way, the freeway comes across IL 81 and IL 17 before meeting US 34. At this point, IL 110 travels west along US 34 while I-74 continues south. East of Galesburg, I-74 begins to curve southeastward. Along the way, it meets US 150 in

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

, local roads near Brimfield, and one near Kickapoo before meeting

I-474 Interstate 474 (I-474) is an Interstate Highway loop route that provides a southwestern bypass around the north-central Illinois city of Peoria. I-474's parent Interstate is I-74. As the first digit of the Interstate's number is even, it ...

/ IL 6. I-474 serves as a southern bypass of Peoria. Along the way through Peoria, it comes across Sterling Avenue, then US 150, Gale Avenue, University Street, IL 40, IL 29 (where they become concurrent), and the

Murray Baker Bridge The Murray Baker Bridge is a landmark cantilever bridge that carries Interstate 74 (I-74) and Illinois Route 29 (IL 29) over the Illinois River from downtown Peoria to East Peoria in central Illinois. According to the Illinois ...

. East of Peoria, the freeway then meets IL 40 (Riverfront Drive), US 24/US 150/IL 29 (where IL 29 leaves the concurrency)/ IL 116, US 150/ IL 8, and Pinecrest Drive, before meeting I-474 again. After the I-474 interchange, it then meets the I-155 interchange, as well as Morton Avenue, in

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton H ...

. The freeway then meets IL 117 in Goodfield, a local road near Carlock, and US 150 near Yuton. As it approaches

Normal Normal(s) or The Normal(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Normal'' (2003 film), starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson * ''Normal'' (2007 film), starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, and Andrew Airlie * ''Norma ...

, I-74 then meets

I-55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...

/US 51 at a

trumpet interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usi ...

, which then turns south.

Bloomington–Normal to Indiana state line

The concurrency then meets US 150 in Bloomington before I-55 branches southwestward at the I-55 Business (I-55 Bus.) interchange. After that, US 51 branches southward at US 51 Bus. I-74 then travels southeastward at this point. Along the way, it meets two local roads serving Downs and Le Roy, respectively; US 136; IL 54; another local road near Mansfield; IL 47; and another local road near Mahomet. As it approaches Champaign, it then comes across

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 ess ...

, then Prospect Avenue, and then Neil Street. For

Urbana __NOTOC__ Urbana can refer to: Places Italy *Urbana, Italy United States *Urbana, Illinois **Urbana (conference), a Christian conference formerly held in Urbana, Illinois *Urbana, Indiana * Urbana, Iowa *Urbana, Kansas * Urbana, Maryland *Urbana, ...

, it serves Lincoln Avenue, US 45, and IL 130. After leaving the city of Urbana, it then serves two local roads for

St. Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

and Ogden, IL 49, another local road for Oakwood, and US 150. At this point, I-74 becomes a freeway bypass of Danville. In Tilton, it serves G Street as well as US 150/ IL 1. After crossing the Vermilion River, it then meets Bowman Road and Lynch Road. Shortly after the Lynch Road interchange, I-74 crosses the Indiana state line.

History

In November 2006, major work was completed on the ''Upgrade 74'' project for the portion of I-74 in the Midwest. This multiyear project, begun in April 2002, saw the complete renovation of I-74 through

East Peoria East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from ...

and Peoria. Most notably, the Interstate was widened to three lanes through the cities, many blind or hairpin exits and entrances to the highway were removed or corrected, and many bridges crossing the highway were replaced. The biggest part of this project was to work on the

, over which I-74 crosses the Illinois River. The bridge was completely closed to traffic while being partially dismantled and reconstructed from April 2 to October 15, 2005. During this time, I-74 was disconnected between Peoria and East Peoria. In late March 2013, the biggest road reconstruction project in the Peoria area since the 2002–2006 project—a complete $86.6-million (equivalent to $ in ) revision of the

I-74/I-155 interchange system—started its beginning phases (Morton, a hub for the two Interstates and the site of facilities for

Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...

, PepsiCo, and

Libby's Libby's (Libby, McNeill & Libby) was an American company that produced canned food and beverages. The firm was established in 1869 in Chicago, Illinois. The Libby's trademark is currently owned by Libby's Brand Holding based in Geneva, Switzerlan ...

, is a growing Peoria suburb, across the Illinois River, east of East Peoria and Pekin, in Tazewell County). This latest project was scheduled to be finished by mid-2016, and the reconstruction is being scheduled in phases to minimize traffic disruption. In 2020, the Murray Baker Bridge was closed for seven months for a $42.2-million project. At the end of October, it reopened with new decorative and traffic lights.

I-74 Bridge replacement project

The

Iowa Department of Transportation The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is the government organization in the U.S. state of Iowa responsible for the organization, construction, and maintenance of the primary highway system. Located in Ames, Iowa, DOT is also respons ...

(Iowa DOT) and

Illinois Department of Transportation The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers fuel ...

(IDOT) were in the planning stages to build a new bridge to replace the aging

. The Iowa-bound bridge opened in 1935; the Illinois-bound bridge in 1958. In addition to replacing the twin bridges, the scope of the bistate coalition's plan includes updating of I-74 mainline and interchanges from 53rd Street in Davenport to the Avenue of the Cities in Moline. The new twin span fully opened on December 1, 2021.

Exit list

References

External links