Dyl's Roads & Travels: I-94 in Illinois

(and )

I-94 runs parallel to the Lake Michigan shoreline in Illinois. The route has an overlap with I-90, photos along the overlap are on the I-90 page. And interestingly, I-94 runs perpendicular to the compass directions. Signed west is compass north, and signed east is compass south.

I-41/I-94 (and US 41):

The entirety of I-41 in Illinois follows the free segment of I-94 from the Wisconsin state line to where US 41 and I-94 split just south of the state line. I-41 is a designation for a large section of US 41, mostly in Wisconsin, that was upgraded to Interstate standards.

I-94 (and I-41) enter Illinois from Wisconsin.

I-41 ends when US 41 diverges from I-94. At the westbound direction is the only I-41 sign in Illinois along the mainline, a shield on a BGS.

Tri-State Tollway:

The letters are already capitalized. Why do the lowercase letters have to be even smaller?

Half Day Road. One of the most interesting road names I've seen.

I-94 departs the Tri-State Tollway, which continues as I-294. I-294 has the correct compass direction for I-94, because I-94 eastbound actually heads compass south.

Edens Spur:

The Edens Spur is a tolled connector between the Edens Expressway and the Tri-State Tollway. Other than historical purposes (US 41 was upgraded to the Edens Expressway before I-94 and the Tri-State Tollway existed, including the segment up to Highland Park), I don't know why this couldn't just be part of the Edens Expressway because the Edens Expressway designation ends at the Spur. This is unless you count US 41 between the Edens Spur and Park Avenue in Highland Park as part of the Edens Expressway.

I guess the ISTHA forgot to put up the exit number here. This is Exit 27. This is because tollways in Illinois used to not have exit numbers, until those were required for compliance to standards.

Edens Expressway:

The Edens Spur merges into US 41, and the Edens Expressway begins.

I-94 departing the Edens Expressway, heading westbound.

I-94 is given exit signage on the gore as if I-94 was an exit, even though US 41 is Exit 29. But US 41 is the "mainline", and I-94 is the spur, even though I-94 is also a mainline designation.

How did this off-center sign get approved?

Haven't really heard of that one. It's O'Hare Airport, not just a field. After this, I-94 merges onto I-90 and the Edens Expressway ends. The routes continue overlapped along the Kennedy and Dan Ryan Expressways. See I-90 for photos along the overlap. The I-94 exit numbers continue along the overlap. Interesting because I-90 has higher exit numbers than I-94, meaning that I-90 has some repeat numbers.