Illinois Route 40

Illinois Route 40
Route information
Maintained by IDOT
Length:	112.05 mi[1] (180.33 km)
Existed:	November 5, 1918[2] – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-74 in East Peoria
	US 24 / IL 29 in Peoria I-74 in Peoria US 150 in Peoria US 6 / US 34 in Sheffield I-80 in Sheffield I-88 / IL 110 (CKC) in Rock Falls US 30 in Rock Falls
North end:	IL 78 in Mount Carroll
Location
Counties:	Tazewell, Peoria, Marshall, Stark, Bureau, Whiteside, Carroll
Highway system
Illinois State Highway System Interstate U.S. State Tollways ← US 40 I-41 → ← I-88 IL 89 →

Illinois Route 40 is a north–south route in central portion of the U.S. state of Illinois. It runs from Interstate 74 in East Peoria north to Illinois Route 78 at Mt. Carroll, just south of U.S. Route 52 and Illinois Route 64. This is a distance of 112.05 miles (180.33 km).^[1]

Route description

Bob Michel Bridge carrying Illinois Route 40 over the Illinois River.

Illinois 40 is known as Knoxville Avenue in the Peoria area, generally south of Illinois Route 6. Route 40 crosses over Interstate 74 north of downtown, and then grows complex in the downtown area, as there are three turns in a one-block length. Illinois 40 then emerges onto William Kumpf Boulevard and crosses over the Illinois River using the Bob Michel Bridge. On the other side of the river, Illinois 40 is briefly called Washington Street. It then is routed onto an onramp to Interstate 74, where there is an exit to Camp Street before terminating at I-74.

History

Illinois 40 was previously designated Illinois Route 88. In 1992, Illinois Route 5, a four-lane freeway which crosses Illinois 40, was designated Interstate 88. To prevent confusion, IDOT redesignated Illinois 88 as Illinois 40. Although the new number is also the number of a Federal Highway that passes through Illinois (U.S. Route 40), a great enough distance exists between them that the possibility of confusing one for the other is negligible.

Prior to 2003, the Illinois 40 exit on I-74 southeast of Peoria was called "Industrial Spur". As part of the Upgrade 74 Project, the exit was renamed by the Illinois Department of Transportation to Riverfront Drive, presumably to give East Peoria's riverfront exit a better image, and also to reflect the fact that the riverfront is now a commercial destination as opposed to another exit for Caterpillar Inc.

IL 40 in Peoria County, north of IL 90

Exactly what was renamed remains obscure, since the onramp has an interchange with Camp Street, terminates at Washington Street, and the only other intersection that Illinois 40 has in East Peoria is with River Road, not Riverfront Drive. The only remaining possibility is that Illinois 40 itself between Washington Street and Interstate 74 is Riverfront Drive. As a result, Illinois 40 has the distinction of being the only onramp explicitly named in Illinois. The name Riverfront Drive is particularly ironic since the road is not the closest road to the river.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Tazewell	East Peoria			I-74 (Murray Baker Bridge) – Peoria, Bloomington	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
				Camp Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
				Washington Street – East Peoria
Illinois River				Bob Michel Bridge
Peoria	Peoria			I-74 – Galesburg, Bloomington	No direct access from IL 40 north to I-74 east
				US 150 (War Memorial Drive)
				IL 6 to I-74 / I-474 – Chillicothe	IL 6 exit 6.
	​			IL 90 west
Marshall	​			IL 17 east	South end of IL 17 concurrency
Stark	​			IL 17 west	North end of IL 17 concurrency
	​			IL 93 west
Bureau	​			US 6 / US 34
	​			I-80 – Moline, Rock Island, Joliet
	​			IL 92
Whiteside	​			IL 172 west
	​			I-88 / IL 110 (CKC) (Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway) – Moline, Rock Island, Dixon
	Sterling			IL 2 east / Lincoln Highway (3rd Street, 4th Street)
				Lincoln Highway west (5th Street)
Carroll	Mount Carroll			IL 78 (Clay Street)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Illinois Route 40.

Route map: Bing / Google