Illinois Route 172 is an inverted-L-shaped highway in northwestern

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 ...

, though it is marked as being a north–south highway on signage. It runs from

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, Illinois, East Peoria north to Illinois Route 78, IL 78 at Mount Carroll, Illinois, Mt. ...

Illinois Route 92 Illinois Route 92 (IL 92 or Route 92) is an east–west state highway in northwest Illinois. It runs from the Norbert F. Beckey Bridge across the Mississippi River where it meets the eastern end of Iowa Highway 92, east to U.S. Route ...

by way of

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fif ...

. This is a distance of . Illinois 172 is also a part of the Ronald Reagan Trail.

Route description

Illinois 172 runs north from Illinois 92 through Tampico. It then runs east over a feeder for the

Hennepin Canal The Hennepin Canal State Trail, also just called the Hennepin Canal, is an abandoned waterway in northwest Illinois, between the Mississippi River at Rock Island and the Illinois River near Hennepin. The entire canal is listed on the National ...

to Illinois 40. Illinois 172 is a two-lane surface road for its entire length. It is known as Main Street through Tampico, Tampico Road around Tampico, and Star Road for the east–west portion.

History

SBI Route 172 originally ran from Libertyville to

Gurnee Gurnee ( ) is a Village (United States), village and suburb in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 30,706 as of the 2020 census. It borders the city of Waukegan, Illinois, Waukegan, and is a popular tourist attraction within ...

; this became ''

Illinois Route 63 Illinois Route 63 (IL 63) was an east–west state highway in the Chicago metropolitan area. At its latest routing, it traveled from Illinois Route 72 (IL 72) in East Dundee to US 41 in Gurnee. Route description At its late ...

'', and then

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, Illinois, Niles to U.S. Route 41 in Illinois, U.S. Route 41 (Skokie Highway) north of Gur ...

. In 1946, Illinois 172 was used on former ''Illinois Route 226'', which in addition to its current route ran west to Prophetstown, forming a T-shaped route. The 'spur' to Prophetstown was dropped in 1974. There have been no changes since.

Major Intersections

References

{{reflist 172 Transportation in Bureau County, Illinois Transportation in Whiteside County, Illinois