U.S. Route 30 (US 30) is an east–west arterial surface road in northern Illinois. It runs from across the Mississippi River from

Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,469 as of 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt Clin ...

, to Lynwood at the Indiana state line. This is a distance of .

Route description

Mississippi River to Interstate 39

US 30 crosses from

, to the greater Fulton area over the

Gateway Bridge The Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges are a side-by-side pair of road bridges on the Gateway Motorway (M1), which skirts the eastern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The western bridge carries traffic to the north and the eastern bridge ca ...

. US 30 bypasses most of the city of Fulton to the south. From Fulton, US 30 travels southeastward through the town of Morrison en route to a crossing over the Rock River and Rock Falls. Here also, US 30 bypasses the majority of the town, intersecting

Illinois Route 40 Illinois Route 40 (IL 40) is a north–south route in central portion of the U.S. state of Illinois. It runs from Interstate 74 (I-74) in East Peoria north to IL 78 at Mt. Carroll, just south of U.S. Route 52 (US 52) and IL 64. Route ...

(IL 40) and having an interchange with Interstate 88 (I-88) on the southeast side of Rock Falls. East of Rock Falls, US 30 turns directly eastwards and intersects IL 26 well south of

Dixon Dixon may refer to: Places International * Dixon Entrance, part of the Inside Passage between Alaska and British Columbia Canada * Dixon, Ontario United States * Dixon, California * Dixon, Illinois * Dixon, Greene County, Indiana * Dixon, In ...

. It also intersects US 52 at a remote location north of Amboy in Lee County. US 30 remains rural continuing eastwards, intersecting IL 251 a few miles west of

I-39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a highway in the Midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois, at I-55 to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) in the town of Rib Mountain, Wisconsin, which is approximately south of Wausau. ...

. On the stretch of US 30 between Rock Falls and

Shabbona Shabbona (or Sha-bon-na), also known as Shabonee Shabbona Shabbona (or Sha-bon-na), also known as ShaboneeWaterman and

Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughbor ...

. The proposed Prairie Parkway limited access highway would have intersected US 30 east of Dauberman Road in the village of Big Rock, between Hinckley and Sugar Grove. In Sugar Grove at IL 47, the character of the road changes relatively quickly. Near the

Aurora Municipal Airport Chicago/Aurora Municipal Airport is a public airport opened in April 1966, located in the village of Sugar Grove, Illinois, United States, west of the city of Aurora, both in Kane County. The airport is owned and operated by the City of Auro ...

in Sugar Grove, US 30 has an interchange with the western terminus of IL 56 and IL 47. US 30 exits south with IL 47 and remains

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

for a couple of miles; US 30 then turns east at the Kendall– Kane county line. US 30 then intersects IL 31, the Fox River and crosses over IL 25 in Montgomery but does not provide access to IL 25; east of Montgomery, US 30 overlaps US 34 for a short distance, and then turns south-southeast to Plainfield, picking up the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 19 ...

designation. Prior to the route being redrawn to follow the path of US 34, the route actually exited off of US 34 through a highway interchange. The interchange in

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

at Hill Avenue, where Lincoln Highway passes through Aurora toward the south is where the route gains the designation, and is where the old interchange was located as Hill Avenue passed over US 34 and continued south toward Plainfield. US 30 passes a mile to the north of downtown Plainfield on 143rd Street, then turns south onto IL 59 (Division Street) for approximately one mile. Southeast of downtown, US 30 leaves IL 59 and heads southeast toward Joliet. US 30 intersects I-55 at a busy commercial center near the

Louis Joliet Mall Louis Joliet Mall is a shopping mall in Joliet, Illinois. Its anchor stores are J. C. Penney, JCPenney, Macy's (formerly Marshall Field's) and a Cinemark movie theater along with two vacant anchors last occupied by Carson's and Sears, Roebuck an ...

in the far northwest corner of Joliet. A major construction project, begun in 2006, is in process to widen the remaining two-lane sections in this area to four lanes. A similar project was completed on other sections in far western Joliet and Crest Hill during the few years before. US 30 intersects an east–west segment of IL 7 (Theodore Street) as it runs through the major commercial district of Crest Hill. It then continues southeast into the central part of the city of Joliet.

Joliet to Indiana state line

Within Joliet, US 30 runs on Plainfield Road, then Center Street, where it splits onto Jefferson Street eastbound and Western Avenue/Cass Street westbound, concurrent with US 6 east of the Des Plaines River. The US 6/US 30 combination eastbound begins at Scott Street and ends at Collins Street; westbound it starts at Collins and ends at Ottawa Street. There are also intersections at Scott Street and Ottawa Street with IL 53, which runs north–south through downtown Joliet. US 30 continues eastbound on Cass Street. At I-80, US 30 is once again called the Lincoln Highway, running through the southern suburbs of

New Lenox New Lenox is a village in central Will County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago and an eastern suburb of Joliet. The village population was 27,214 as of 2020. New Lenox has schools like Lincoln-Way West High Schoo ...

, Frankfort, Matteson,

Chicago Heights Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census. In earlier years, Chicago Heights was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the Nation". Currently, it is nicknamed ...

, Ford Heights and Lynwood. It intersects US 45 (La Grange Road) and the southern terminus of IL 43 in Frankfort,

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 ...

in Matteson, IL 1 (Halsted Street) in

, IL 394 near Sauk Village and the southern terminus of IL 83 in Lynwood. West of I-80, US 30 generally has two lanes plus a center turn lane; east of I-80, the width of the road fluctuates between four and six lanes and is occasionally divided by a median. A 2003–2004 reconstruction project widened US 30 to four lanes between IL 394 and the Indiana state line. The point west of I-80 where US 30 widens to four lanes is the beginning of a very long stretch of road where US 30 stays at least four lanes; going eastward, US 30 does not narrow to two lanes again until just east of

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

History

US 30 in Illinois has undergone many major changes since its inception in 1926. It originally ran from Fulton (on the modern-day Lyons-Fulton Bridge) through Chicago using current US 30, IL 2 east of Sterling to

and IL 38 from Dixon to Westchester (the full length of Il 38). It then followed

Roosevelt Road Roosevelt Road (originally named 12th Street) is a major east-west street in the city of Chicago, Illinois, and its western suburbs. It is 1200 South in the city's street numbering system, but only south of Madison Street. It runs under this ...

, various city streets, Stony Island Avenue and Torrence Avenue to reach Indiana. In 1932, US 30 was relocated onto the Lincoln Highway in the southern suburbs, from Torrence Avenue to IL 31 in the Fox River Valley. US 30 then concurrent with current IL 31 (then called US 430) north to IL 38 in Geneva, and kept the 1926 routing westward from Geneva. The old US 30 through Chicago became US 330. In the Fox River Valley, US 430 was created and ran north to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

from Geneva. Between 1932 and 1942, US 30 was relocated west of Geneva to Sterling on a new, more direct road further south. U 330 was extended westward as US 30 was relocated south. In 1937, US 430 was dropped in favor of IL 31. In 1942, US 330 was dropped entirely and became Alternate U.S. Route 30, which lasted until 1971. In June 1956, the

opened south of the Lyons-Fulton Bridge. U.S. 30 was rerouted south onto this bridge, and the old route named another Alternate U.S. Route 30—this was soon changed to IL 136 so as to match Iowa 136 on the other side of the Mississippi River. In 1959, US 30 was rerouted around Aurora. The old route through Aurora (present-day Galena Boulevard, New York Street and Hill Avenue) became City U.S. Route 30; this lasted all of one year until 1960 when it was renamed Business U.S. Route 30. Business US 30 lasted a little longer before being removed in 1970. In 1963, the East-West Tollway was built. From 1963 to 1965, the tollway was marked as Toll U.S. Route 30 and ran along modern-day I-88,

I-294 Interstate 294 (I-294) is a tolled auxiliary Interstate Highway in northeastern Illinois. It forms the southern portion of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois. I-294 runs from South Holland at I-80/ I-94 and Illinois Route 394 (IL 394) to ...

, and the present-day IL 394 (which in 1963 was called IL 1 until 1964, when it became IL 394). The east–west Tollway portion was renamed to IL in 1965, and eventually became IL 5 before becoming I-88 in 1988. In 1971, Alternate U.S. Route 30 in Illinois was discontinued, renamed as IL 38 west of Westchester, and dropped through the city of Chicago. Since a 2008 realignment, US 30 passes a mile to the north of downtown Plainfield on 143rd Street, then turns south onto IL 59 (Division Street) for approximately one mile. Southeast of downtown, US 30 leaves IL 59 and heads southeast toward Joliet. Prior to 2008, US 30 ran directly through downtown Plainfield on Lockport Street, briefly sharing alignment with IL 126, before joining IL 59 for three blocks.

Major intersections

References

External links

* {{state detail page browse, shield=LincolnHighwayMarker.svg, road=Lincoln Highway, state=Illinois, stateafter=Indiana, statebefore=Iowa Illinois U.S. Route 030 in Illinois 30 Transportation in Whiteside County, Illinois Transportation in Lee County, Illinois Transportation in DeKalb County, Illinois Transportation in Kane County, Illinois Transportation in Kendall County, Illinois Transportation in Will County, Illinois Transportation in Cook County, Illinois