U.S. Route 45 (US 45) in the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

is a major north–south U.S. Highway that runs from the

Brookport Bridge The Brookport Bridge (officially the Irvin S. Cobb Bridge) is a ten-span, steel deck (grate), narrow two-lane truss bridge that carries U.S. Route 45 (US 45) across the Ohio River in the U.S. states of Illinois and Kentucky. It connect ...

over the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illi ...

at Brookport north through rural sections of eastern Illinois and then through the suburbs of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to the

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michi ...

state line east of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

. This is a distance of . US 45 is the longest numbered route in Illinois.

Route description

Champaign/Urbana

US 45 serves as the western boundary of the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...

campus. Entering downtown

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

as Neil Street, US 45 then goes east on Springfield Avenue, running concurrently with

US 150 U.S. Route 150 (US 150) is a 571-mile (919 km) long northwest-southeast United States highway, signed as east–west. It runs from U.S. Route 6 outside of Moline, Illinois to U.S. Route 25 in Mount Vernon, Kentucky. Route description ...

. Farther east of downtown Champaign, it again serves as a boundary for the campus. Following Wright Street, US 45 then moves east on University Avenue, forming the northern border of the University. This path continues to Cunningham Avenue in Urbana. US 45 then turns onto Cunningham Avenue northward towards

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Kankakee to Hickory Hills

US 45 overlaps

US 52 U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major United States highway in the central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows ...

at an intersection with Illinois 49 east of Ashkum. US 45/52 intersects with Illinois Route 17 in Kankakee and

Illinois Route 102 Illinois Route 102 (IL 102) is a state route in northeast Illinois. It runs from IL 53 in Wilmington to the concurrency of U.S. Route 45 (US 45) and US 52 in Bourbonnais, just north of Kankakee. This is a distance of . ...

Bourbonnais Bourbonnais () was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponds to the modern ''département'' of Allier, along with part of the ''département'' of Cher. Its capital was Moulins. History The title of the ruler of Bourbonnais ...

. Just west of Peotone, US 52 takes a westward course, and US 45 heads north. From this point on until its intersection with Cermak Road/22nd Street in Westchester, US 45 is also known as La Grange Road. In Frankfort, US 45 intersects with

US 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

. From that point on until its interchange with

Archer Avenue Archer Avenue, sometimes known as Archer Road outside the Chicago, Illinois city limits, and also known as State Street only in Lockport, Illinois and Fairmont, Illinois city limits, is a street running northeast-to-southwest between Chicago's C ...

Illinois Route 171 Illinois Route 171 (IL 171) is a north–south state highway in northeastern Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 6 (US 6) in Joliet north to Illinois Route 72 at the Chicago– Park Ridge border. The section of IL 171 on Archer A ...

, US 45/La Grange Road is also known as 96th Avenue (9600 W in Chicago's street grid, 96 blocks and west of State Street). During this stretch it intersects with

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

and

US 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to ...

/159th Street in Orland Park. It also intersects

Illinois Route 83 Illinois Route 83 (IL 83) is a major north–south state highway in northeast Illinois. It stretches from U.S. Route 30 (US 30, Lincoln Highway) by Lynwood and Dyer, Indiana, north to the Wisconsin border by Antioch at Wisconsin Hi ...

(Calumet Sag Road) for the first time in Palos Hills, just south of the

Cal-Sag Channel The Calumet River is a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the south side of Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana. Historically, the Little Calumet River and the Grand Calumet River were one, the ...

. Starting at 95th Street near Hickory Hills, US 45 becomes concurrent

US 12 U.S. Route 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90) and I-94, but unlike most U.S. routes tha ...

and

US 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

. Two miles further north, at

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

, the road loses its 96th Avenue designation; this is due to the road entering suburbs that do not use Chicago's address system, and that most of its alignment north of Archer would be at 10000 W anyway, if the address system extended to these suburbs.

Hickory Hills to O'Hare International Airport

The concurrent US 12/20/45, past 87th Street, briefly becomes a 4-lane

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

as it intersects with

(Archer Avenue) in

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

and

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

(the

Stevenson Expressway Stevenson is an English language patronymic surname meaning "son of Steven". Its first historical record is from pre-10th-century England. Another origin of the name is as a toponymic surname related to the place Stevenstone in Devon, England. T ...

) in Hodgkins (along with

Interstate 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 ...

, which only has a southbound interchange ramp). North of Interstate 55, US 12/20/45 becomes a regular 4-lane highway before it intersects with the former US 66 at Joliet Road in

Countryside In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

. In Downtown La Grange, US 12/20/45 intersects the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe railroad tracks and intersects with US 34 (Ogden Avenue), possibly the only intersection of 4 separate US routes in Illinois. Following the intersection with US 34, US 12/20/45 passes through La Grange Park (as La Grange Road), moving in a slight northwesterly direction. After passing over Salt Creek, US 12/20/45 intersects with Cermak Road/22nd Street in Westchester and is known as

Mannheim Road Mannheim Road, also known as La Grange Road from Cermak Road to U.S. Route 30 (US 30; Lincoln Highway), is a north–south major street in the near-western suburbs of Chicago. It carries US 12 from Des Plaines to 95th St near Hickory ...

north of this intersection. Mannheim Road, as US 12/20/45 serves as the Eastern starting point for Illinois Route 38 (Roosevelt Road) in Hillside, has a full interchange with Interstate 290, also in Hillside, and serves as the Eastern starting point for

Illinois Route 56 Illinois Route 56 (IL 56) is a east–west state highway in northern and northeastern Illinois. It runs from the interchange of Illinois Route 47 at U.S. Route 30 (US 30) in Sugar Grove east to US 12/US 20/US 45 (Mannheim Road) by Bellwo ...

(briefly Washington Boulevard in Bellwood, before becoming Butterfield Road). After passing over a

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

rail yard, US 45 becomes concurrent with only US 12 in Melrose Park as US 20 breaks off at Lake Street there. US 12 and US 45 remain concurrent on Mannheim Road, passing Interstate 294 again without an interchange, but, after passing Illinois Route 19 (Irving Park Road), has a full interchange with Interstate 190, which leads directly to

O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop busines ...

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midw ...

East (into Chicago). This area between IL19 and IL72 once ran straight though but was realigned to the east in 1960 for the construction of O'Hare's 4R/22L runway.

O'Hare International Airport to Antioch

Near the Northeast portion of O'Hare airport, US 12/45 intersects with

Illinois Route 72 Illinois Route 72 is an east–west state road in northern Illinois. It runs from the intersection with Illinois Route 73 north of Lanark east to Illinois Route 43 (Harlem Avenue) in Chicago. This is a distance of . Route description Ill ...

in Rosemont, IL, and continues along Mannheim Road into

Des Plaines Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 60,675. The city is a suburb of Chicago and is located just north of O'Hare International Airport. It is situated on and is named after the ...

. Mannheim Road ends and feeds into Lee Street at the end of an S-curve. The northbound and southbound routes are split in downtown Des Plaines between Lee Street (West 12/North 45) and Graceland Avenue (East 12/South 45). During this time, US 12/45 intersects with

US 14 U.S. Route 14 (abbreviated U.S. 14 or US 14), an east–west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It currently has a length of 1,398 miles (2,250 km), but it had a peak length of 1,429 miles (2,300 km). For ...

(Miner Street) at two separate points, due to the separation of their directions. Just north of US 14, US 12/45 are reunited in both directions on Lee Street, only to be separated as US 12 diverges onto Rand Road and US 45 becomes Des Plaines River Road in a complicated intersection on the north side of Des Plaines, just south of

Illinois Route 58 Illinois Route 58 (IL 58, Illinois 58), also known as Golf Road for most of its route, is a state highway in northeast Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 25 (Liberty Street) in Elgin east to U.S. Route 41 (Skokie Boulevard) in Skokie. Thi ...

. US 45 continues along Des Plaines River Road, intersecting with Illinois 58 in Des Plaines, and eventually becomes concurrent with

Illinois Route 21 Illinois Route 21 (IL 21) is an arterial north–south state highway in northeastern Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 43 (Harlem Avenue) in Niles to U.S. Route 41 (Skokie Highway) north of Gurnee. Illinois 21 is 28.13 miles (45.27 ...

, Milwaukee Avenue, in Prospect Heights, until

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

(just north of

Illinois Route 22 Illinois Route 22, also known as Half Day Road for part of its length, is an east–west state highway in northeastern Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 14 (Northwest Highway) in Fox River Grove to U.S. Route 41 ( Skokie Highway) in Highland P ...

) where US 45 takes a northwest route. US 45 also intersects with

just south of Mundelein (where they exchange routes, as IL 83 goes northwest, and US 45 continues north), Illinois Route 60 in Mundelein,

Illinois Route 137 Illinois Route 137 (IL 137) is a state highway in northeast Illinois. It runs from the Wisconsin Border north of Winthrop Harbor south to North Chicago, west to Libertyville, and then back northwest to Grayslake, terminating at IL 83 just so ...

in Libertyville,

Illinois Route 120 Illinois Route 120 (IL 120) is a major east–west state highway in northeastern Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 14 near Woodstock to Illinois Route 131 in Waukegan. It travels a distance of and is one of the few roads that provides d ...

in Grayslake, and

Illinois Route 173 Illinois Route 173 (IL 173) is a east–west state highway that runs from Illinois Route 251 in the Rockford suburb of Machesney Park east to Illinois Route 137 (Sheridan Road/Buckley) in Zion near the Illinois- Wisconsin border. Illino ...

just south of the Wisconsin border.

History

Initially, US 45 ran from Metropolis to Des Plaines, Illinois with some portions under construction. In 1929, a ferry that once crossed the Ohio River closed in favor of opening

. By 1930, most of the sections were finished and then opened to traffic. The original alignment followed (from south–north) what used to be part of IL 1, IL 140, IL 25, IL 44, IL 51, and IL 46 before terminating at US 12. These state routes were eventually either truncated or removed as of 1935. That same year, US 45 was extended north from Des Plaines, Illinois to

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. In 1936, a new bridge crossing the

Des Plaines River The Des Plaines River () is a river that flows southward for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois''American Her ...

Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, historically known as the Chicago Drainage Canal, is a canal system that connects the Chicago River to the Des Plaines River. It reverses the direction of the Main Stem and the South Branch of the Chicago R ...

, and the

Illinois and Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago P ...

opened. As a result, US 45 moved off from another bridge carrying Willow Springs Road. In 1940, US 45 was rerouted to branch off west from Half Day instead of branching off north of Libertyville. In 1954, a portion of US 45 south of Kankakee moved eastward, resulting in the extension of IL 115. In 1962, another portion of US 45 east of O'Hare Field moved slightly eastward. In 1969, a portion of Interstate 57 east of Kankakee was extended south to US 54 west of Onarga. As a result, US 45 moved away from Clifton and Chebanse. In October 2019, the 4-lane Millburn Bypass opened in order to reduce congestion in and near Millburn.

Major intersections

References

External links