US 20 in Illinois

According to directoryaah, US 20 is a US Highway in the US state of Illinois. The road forms an east-west route through the north of the state, passing through the city of Rockford and the Chicago metropolitan area. The route is 376 kilometers long.

Travel directions

Northern Illinois

The US 20 / US Grant Memorial Highway near Marengo.

At East Dubuque, US 20 enters Iowa from the city of Dubuque, Illinoisin by crossing the Mississippi River. The road initially has 2×2 lanes, but narrows before Galena to one lane in each direction. This area is fairly hilly through the Mississippi Valley and has some forest. It also crosses several small tributaries of the Mississippi. The road slowly turns east away from the Mississippi and the area flattens out. You then arrive at the agricultural plateau, where the US 20 has fairly long straights. The road network here is built in a grid pattern of one by one mile. The first slightly larger town on the route is Freeport. The US 20 here forms a bypass that is partly grade separated. After Freeport, US 20 has 2×2 lanes for 35 kilometers to the town of Rockford.

Rockford is reached from the west side, after which US 20 forms a highway bypass south of the city. Rockford is a somewhat larger city with more than 150,000 inhabitants. The highway has 2×2 lanes here and crosses the Rock River, a somewhat larger tributary of the Mississippi River. On the south side of town, US 20 merges with Interstate 39. Just before the interchange with Interstate 90, US 20 turns to the east and forms an underlying 2×2 divided highway up to Belvidere, about 10 kilometers to the east. Then US 20 parallels I-90 southeast toward Chicago. US 20 intersects I-90 just before the metro area, then heads south of it.

Chicago

The first suburb on the route from US 20 to Chicago is Elgin, which has more than 100,000 inhabitants. US 20 forms a short highway bypass of the city here. The highway has 2×2 lanes and you cross the Fox River here. After Elgin, US 20 becomes a 2×2 lane at- grade urban arterial, Lake Street. A few larger intersections are grade-separated. One then enters an area with smaller suburbs, such as Bartlett, Streamwood and Hanover Park. In the latter city there is a connection with the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway. US 20 follows a slightly more southerly route through Bloomingdale. In the suburb of Addison follows the connection with Interstate 355. A few miles away in Elmhurst there is a double junction with Interstate 290 and Interstate 294.

Shortly after in Melrose Park, US 20 turns south and merges with US 12 and US 45. The three US Highways are then double-numbered along the western suburbs of Chicago. At Bellwood, you cross I-290 again and the road here is called Mannheim Road, which becomes La Grange Road. One then passes through an area with the oldest suburbs of the agglomeration, which consist of smaller houses built closer together. In La Grange you cross the US 34. Just south of La Grange it connects with Interstate 55. Shortly after, the road goes under Interstate 294then US 20 and US 12 turn east onto 95th Street. US 45 continues south to the southern suburbs and Kankakee. Shortly thereafter, it crosses I-294 again and US 12 and US 20 continue in a straight line on 95th Street to the east. It passes through suburbs like Oak Lawn and Evergreen Park and then into Chicago ‘s southern boroughs. One crosses Interstate 94, the Dan Ryan Expressway, and a little further on Interstate 90 again. Shortly thereafter, US 41 from downtown Chicago also merges and the roads cross the Indiana border. US 20 in Indiana then continues toward Gary.

History

According to ebizdir, US 20 was created in 1926 and then ran on its current route through Illinois. The road was of considerable importance as a connection between Dubuque, Rockford and Chicago. The section between Rockford and Chicago was replaced in 1958 by the parallel Interstate 90 in Illinois. By 1962, the entire route between Rockford and the Indiana border was interstate, negating the through importance of US 20 east of Rockford. With the expansion of the suburbs west of Chicago, US 20 still played a fairly important role in urban traffic. Around Elgin, the Elgin Bypass opened on November 30, 1962. It is unknown when the highway around Rockford was built, at least in the 1980s or earlier.

Traffic intensities

About 19,400 vehicles cross the Mississippi River every day, which quickly drops to about 4,000 vehicles per day. The 2×2 section from Freeport to Rockford has 16,500 vehicles per day, and 38,200 vehicles on the freeway section past Rockford. East of Rockford, traffic volumes remain quite high at 9,000 vehicles as traffic crosses the toll roadI-90 avoids. In the metropolitan area of ​​Chicago, intensities are rising rapidly, reaching some 58,000 vehicles in Elgin, and 40,000 vehicles through Schaumburg. This makes the road one of the busiest non-motorways in the urban area. There are 52,300 vehicles on I-355 and 22,000 on I-294. The double-numbered US 12 and US 45 number about 25,000 vehicles, and 49,000 vehicles drive through Oak Lawn. About 25,000 vehicles drive through Chicago’s southern boroughs.