State Route 394 and 53 in Illinois

State Route 394 in Illinois

According to 800Zipcodes, State Route 394 is a state route and highway in the U.S. state of Illinois. The road forms a highway on the south side of the Chicago metropolitan area, and is called the Bishop Ford Freeway. The route begins at I-80 in Lansing and ends at SR-1 in Crete, 15 miles south.

Travel directions

SR-394 begins as a freeway at the interchange with the Kingery Expressway, Interstate 80. The Bishop Ford Freeway here continues from Chicago ‘s Interstate 94 onto SR-394, while I-94 turns east onto I-80. SR-394 then has 2×2 lanes and runs through a park-like area through the southernmost suburbs of Chicago. The center of Chicago is relatively close at a distance of 30 kilometers. SR-394 runs through undeveloped area, to the west are larger suburbs like Chicago Heights, and to the east are suburbs like Munster and Dyer in Indiana., but the SR-394 runs through agricultural land in between. At Ford Heights, US 30 crosses the Lincoln Highway from Joliet to Fort Wayne. The highway ends at Sauk Village, and SR-394 continues as an at-grade 2×2 road, terminating south of Crete on SR-1.

History

The highway was constructed with Interstate Highway design requirements, and is often referred to as Interstate 394, although the road is not formally an Interstate Highway. In 2006 and 2007, the interchange with I-80 and I-94 was drastically improved during the reconstruction of the Kingery Expressway.

Traffic intensities

In 2007, up to 60,500 vehicles used the highway section. The non-highway section is a lot quieter with 5,600 vehicles.

State Route 53 in Illinois

State Route 53 is a state route and partial freeway in the U.S. state of Illinois. The road forms a north-south route through the Chicago area, from Gardner to Long Grove. The northern part is a freeway, the rest is a regular city road. State Route 53 is 132 kilometers long, of which 12 kilometers is a freeway.

Travel directions

State Route 53 south of Joliet.

State Route 53 begins at the village of Gardner on Interstate 55, about 100 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. State Route 53 heads north, first through rural areas with a few villages, but after about 45 kilometers you reach the town of Joliet, the largest suburb in the southwest of the Chicago area. The road then runs through the western suburbs of Chicago, as a single-storey city road. It crosses some freeways, such as I-55, I-80 and I-355.

At Schaumburg SR-53 merges with Interstate 290, both routes are then double-numbered until the interchange with Interstate 90. North of this, State Route 53 is a 2×3 lane individual freeway. The highway passes through the suburb of Palatine, after which the northernmost 2 kilometers of the highway is numbered State Route 53S, State Route 53 itself exits a little earlier and runs to Long Grove, where the road ends at State Route 83.

History

The original 1924 State Route 53 ran from Romeoville to Long Grove. At the time, the region was not yet urbanized and the road was a rural route. In 1963, the track was extended northward as the freeway between I-90 and Arlington Heights was completed. In 1989, a short northward extension of the freeway opened from Dundee Road to Lake Cook Road.

In 1967, State Route 53 was extended south from Romeoville to Gardner, partially replacing historic US 66. The road number was originally routed over I-355 and I-290 between Romeoville and Schaumburg. In 1990 the number was linked back to the old route, leaving only a small double numbering with the I-290 in Schaumburg.

Future

Originally, a freeway over US 12 was planned from Chicago to Madison, Wisconsin. It would run through Lake County as an extension of State Route 53. However, this part was never built, but urbanization increased considerably, most of Lake County is now built up.

It was then planned to extend State Route 53 as a parkway to Grayslake, 22 kilometers north as the crow flies. A right-of-way was largely kept clear for this route. In 2009, a Lake County referendum was held with 76% of residents voting in favor of the construction. However, the Illinois Tollway decided in July 2019 not to develop the project further.

Traffic intensities

Every day, 156,000 vehicles travel north of I-90, dropping to 66,000 vehicles at the end of the highway on the Lake County border.