U.S. Route 60 and U.S. Route 62 (US 60/US 62) run for a very short distance within 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 ...

. The highways run concurrently for their entire existence within the state. The joint highway runs around Fort Defiance in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

, from the Cairo Mississippi River Bridge over the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, ...

east to the Cairo Ohio River Bridge 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 ...

; the Ohio River Bridge also carries US 51. The bridges cross the two rivers just north of the mouth of the Ohio.

Route description

US 60/US 62 enters Illinois via the Cairo Mississippi River Bridge, a narrow, through truss bridge. The bridge deposits the highway onto a

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, pier (architecture), piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct over ...

which rises above farmland in the

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the smal ...

. At the northern end of the causeway is the entrance to Fort Defiance Park, a former

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...

military post and later

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

. Fort Defiance marks the confluence of the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Missis ...

and

s and Illinois' southernmost and lowest points. The lone intersection for US 60/US 62 is with US 51, which joins from the north. The three highway designations come together to head northeast and rise onto the Cairo Ohio River Bridge and into

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgin ...

. The

Great River Road The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads that follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansa ...

's National Route overlaps US 60/US 62 from the intersection with US 51 to the Kentucky state line.

History

Until the Mississippi River Bridge opened , US 60 used a ferry directly from

Bird's Point, Missouri Bird's Point (or Birds Point) is an unincorporated community in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. It lies on an island or former island in the Mississippi River, near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and is situated ...

, across that river (below the Ohio) to Wickliffe, Kentucky. After that it ran into Cairo and used a ferry from roughly 22nd Street to East Cairo, Kentucky. US 62 was designated around 1930, and the Ohio River Bridge replaced the ferry in 1937. Originally, the Mississippi River bridge opened in 1929. It was a boon to economies of Southeast Missouri and Northern Arkansas. The toll drivers would have had to pay on the Mississippi bridge was $1.40 (). Meanwhile, the Ohio River bridge was delayed. An Act of Congress gave them more time. It was eventually dedicated on November 11, 1938, and made toll free exactly ten years later. It had a cost of $3 million (equivalent to $ in ).

Major intersections

References

External links

*
Visitors Guide to the Fort Defiance Park
at Greatriverroad.com {{state detail page browse, type=US, route=62, state=Illinois, statebefore=Missouri, stateafter=Kentucky Illinois 060 U.S. Route 60 Cairo, Illinois