Interstate 94 (I-94) is a part of the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

that runs from

Billings, Montana Billings is the most populous Lists of populated places in the United States, city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, i ...

, to

Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in and seat of government of St. Clair County, Michigan, United States. The population was 28,983 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the west by Port Huron Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Po ...

. I-94 enters

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in the west, in

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

, and runs generally eastward through Hammond, Gary, and

Portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...

, before entering Michigan northeast of Michigan City. The Interstate runs for approximately through the state. The landscape traversed by I-94 includes urban areas of

Northwest Indiana Northwest Indiana, nicknamed "The Region" after the Calumet Region, is an unofficial region of Northern Indiana, northern Indiana, United States that is located at the northwestern corner of the state. Though there is no official definition of th ...

, wooded areas, and farmland. The section of I-94 between the Illinois state line and Lake Station is named the Frank Borman Expressway.

Route description

I-94 enters Indiana from Illinois running concurrently with I-80 and US Highway 6 (US 6) on the Borman Expressway, in

. The freeway heads toward the east as a 10-lane Interstate, quickly entering the city of Hammond. The road has an interchange with Calumet Avenue, which US 41 is concurrent with toward the north of the interchange. East of the Calumet interchange is an interchange with Indianapolis Boulevard, which carries US 41 south of this interchange and State Road 152 (SR 152) to the north. East of Indianapolis Boulevard, the Interstate passes over the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

Kanakee belt, before having an interchange with Kennedy Avenue. After Kennedy Avenue, the freeway passes to the north of industrial properties, before having an interchange at SR 912, also known as Cline Avenue. The stretch of the highway between Kennedy Avenue and SR 912 is one of the most heavily traveled in the state, with

annual average daily traffic Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided ...

(AADT) of 163,912 vehicles according to a 2010 study. At the interchange with Cline Avenue, the Borman Expressway becomes an eight-lane Interstate; it also leaves Hammond and enters the city of Gary. East of SR 912, the Interstate has an overpass over railroad tracks, before having an interchange with Burr Street. After Burr Street, the highway passes near woodland, as a 10-lane Interstate. The freeway has an interchange with both Grant Street and Broadway. The Interstate has an interchange with

I-65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south interstate highway in the central United States. As with most primary interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...

. Central Avenue has an incomplete interchange, eastbound exit and westbound entrance, with the Interstate that is accessed through ramps at I-65 exit. East of Central Avenue the freeway becomes a six-lane Interstate passing near wooded areas, with farmland. The highway enters Lake Station, and US 6 leaves I-94. East of the interchange with US 6, the Borman Expressway has an interchange with the

Indiana Toll Road The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East–West Toll Road, is a controlled-access toll road that runs for east–west across northern Indiana from the Illinois state line to the Ohio state line. It has been advertised as the "Main ...

. I-80 leaves I-94 and heads east of the toll road. The name "Borman Expressway" does not apply eastward beyond the toll road interchange. The freeway passes over the toll road, before leaving Lake Station and entering

. In Portage, the Interstate passes over US 20 and begins to parallel US 20, before having an interchange with SR 249. East of SR 249, the highway leaves Portage and enters Burns Harbor, before passing under SR 149. I-94 has a

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange (road), interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passe ...

with US 20, before entering

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

. While passing through Porter, the highway passes over the Norfolk Southern Chicago Line. After Porter, the road enters Chesterton and has an interchange with SR 49. East of SR 49, the freeway leaves Chesterton, entering rural Porter County before entering LaPorte County. The Interstate has an interchange with US 421 just south of Michigan City. The road curves to the northeast, bypassing Michigan City to the southeast, having an interchange with US 20. After US 20, I-94 passes over a Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad track, before leaving the Michigan City area and entering

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The segment of freeway between US 20 and the Michigan state line has the lowest AADT on I-94 in the state of Indiana, at 37,179 vehicles.

History

The expressway now known as the Borman was originally known as the Tri-State Highway, and construction of the expressway began in 1949. The designation went through the Kingery Expressway and eventually linked with the

Tri-State Tollway The Tri-State Tollway is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Originally U.S. Route 41 Toll, it follows: *Interstate 94 in Illinois, Interstate 94 from I-41/US 41 in N ...

in Illinois. It was originally designated SR 420 in Indiana. US 6 diverged at Calumet Avenue south and ran on Calumet Avenue and Ridge Road. At various times, the expressway was extended from Indianapolis Boulevard to Burr Street, then to Georgia Street east of Broadway, and eventually to the toll road. Some time after the enactment of the

, the expressway was designated as I-80,

I-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 states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

, and

I-294 Interstate 294 (I-294) is a tolled auxiliary Interstate Highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Forming the southern portion of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois, I-294 runs from South Holland at I-80/ I-94 and Illinoi ...

, and the I-94 designation was applied to the

west of where its interchange with the Borman was eventually built. The expressways were renumbered around 1965 to avoid the implication that through traffic must change roads to stay on I-90 or I-94, resulting in I-90 being moved to the Indiana Toll Road, I-94 being moved to the Borman, and I-294 being cut back to the Tri-State Tollway and no longer entering Indiana. US 6 was extended along the Borman to Ripley Street at that time (its earlier alignment in this area became US 6 Business). The Borman Expressway is named after

Frank Borman Frank Frederick Borman II (March 14, 1928 – November 7, 2023) was an American United States Air Force (USAF) colonel (United States), colonel, aeronautical engineer, NASA astronaut, test pilot, and businessman. He was the commander of Apollo ...

, commander of the

Gemini 7 Gemini 7 (officially Gemini VII) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was a 1965 crewed spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the fourth crewed Gemini flight, the twelfth crewed American spacef ...

and

Apollo 8 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave Sphere of influence (astrodynamics), Earth's gravitational sphere of influence, and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times ...

space missions, who was born in Gary. The eastern section of I-94 in Indiana was completed last, after the nearby Michigan section had been completed, leading to what was called in the interim the "Cornfield Roadblock".

Reconstruction

Reconstruction of the Borman commenced in 2004. The reconstruction of both the Kingery and Borman expressways aimed to significantly reduce the delays encountered on the highway. The reconstructed portion of the Borman is eight lanes wide, with additional collector–distributor lanes between interchanges. Construction between the Illinois state line and exit 11 (I-65 south ramp to Indianapolis) was completed in 2007. The I-65 Interchange Modification Project continued into 2009, including replacing the pavement of the Borman Expressway to Central Avenue. The Borman Expressway and Cline Avenue interchange is a partial

. Two flyover ramps allow southbound Cline Avenue traffic to merge onto the eastbound Borman Expressway, and northbound Cline Avenue traffic to merge onto the westbound Borman Expressway. The remaining ramps utilize the cloverleaf design.

Flooding

On Saturday, September 13, 2008, at approximately 9:00 am CDT, all lanes of the Borman Expressway in both directions at Kennedy Avenue in Hammond were closed by the

Indiana Department of Transportation The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Indiana charged with maintaining and regulating transportation and transportation related infrastructure such as state owned airports, List of number ...

(INDOT) and the Indiana State Police due to severe flooding from the

Little Calumet River The Calumet River is a system of industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the South Side, Chicago, south side of Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana. Historically, the Little Calumet River and the Grand Calumet River ...

. A levee breach, thanks to torrential rains from the remnants of

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...

, reportedly caused water from the river to cascade across all lanes to a depth of nearly under the Kennedy Avenue overpass. The expressway remained shut down in both directions until the following Wednesday, September 17, 2008. There had also been flooding in August 2007, and various measures have been undertaken to prevent future occurrences.

Exit list

References

External links

Indiana Highway Ends: Interstate 94

Traffic information on the Borman and I-65

{{state detail page browse, type=I, route=94, state=Indiana, statebefore=Illinois, stateafter=Michigan

94 Transportation in Gary, Indiana Transportation in Lake County, Indiana Transportation in Porter County, Indiana Transportation in LaPorte County, Indiana Northwest Indiana Interstate 80 U.S. Route 6