Interstate 57 (I-57) is a north–south Interstate Highway in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and

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 Roc ...

that parallels the old Illinois Central Railroad for much of its route. It runs from

Sikeston, Missouri Sikeston is a city located both in southern Scott County and northern New Madrid County, in the state of Missouri, United States. It is situated just north of the " Missouri Bootheel", although many locals consider Sikeston a part of it. By wa ...

, at I-55 to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, at I-94. I-57 essentially serves as a shortcut route for travelers headed between the South ( Memphis,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

St. Louis, Missouri and Springfield, Illinois. Between the junction of I-55 and I-57 in Sikeston and the junction of I-55 and I-90/I-94 in Chicago, I-55 travels for , while the combination of I-57 and I-94 is only long between the same two points. In fact, both the control cities on the overhead signs and the destination mileage signs reference Memphis along southbound I-57, even as far north as its northern origin at I-94 in Chicago. Likewise, at its southern end, Chicago is the control city listed for I-57 on signs on northbound I-55 south of Sikeston, even though I-55 also goes to Chicago. , I-57 has no spur routes nor are any planned for the near future. At a length of just over , it is the second-longest two-digit Interstate Highway without an auxiliary route, behind I-49. I-57 has one business loop in Charleston, Missouri.

Route description

Missouri

In the state of

, I-57 runs northbound from Sikeston to the Cairo I-57 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, it ...

north of Cairo, Illinois. After ending southbound at I-55, the highway continues as U.S. Route 60 (US 60), which meets US 67 at Poplar Bluff, and, from there, US 67 goes south to Little Rock, Arkansas. From the start of I-57 northbound, the US 60 concurrency goes about .

Illinois

In the state of

, I-57 runs from the bridge over the Mississippi River north to Chicago. I-57 is the longest Interstate Highway in Illinois. Its route follows essentially the earlier route of US 51 in southernmost Illinois (US 51 has been diverted to I-57 where I-57 has always been close to old US 51 between Future City and Dongola) before taking a northeastward diagonal to Illinois Route 37 (IL 37), which remains intact as a town-to-town through route, past its interchange with

I-24 Interstate 24 (I-24) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It runs diagonally from I-57, south of Marion, Illinois, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at I-75. It travels through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, ...

(the northwestern terminus of I-24) near Pulleys Mill and a short duplex with I-64 near Mount Vernon north to Effingham, where it has a short concurrence with I-70. It then follows US 45, bypassing Champaign (where it meets I-72 and I-74), and heads north to Onarga, whereafter it follows the formerly duplex path of US 45 and (now decommissioned in most of Illinois) old US 54 to Kankakee. At Kankakee, it heads northward largely parallel to the now decommissioned route of old US 54 (since renumbered largely as IL 50) into the Chicago area, meeting I-80 in Hazel Crest, I-294 in Blue Island, and feeding I-94 on Chicago's South Side. The route is an easy way for Chicagoans to reach Shawnee National Forest in the southern tip of the state. It also serves as a major artery for college students in the state, running near Shawnee Community College in Ullin, the main campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, John A. Logan College in Carterville, Morthland College in

West Frankfort West Frankfort is a city in Franklin County, Illinois. The population was 8,182 at the 2010 census. The city is well known for its rich history of coal. The city is part of the Metro Lakeland area. History Although one might associate the name ...

, Rend Lake College in Ina, Lake Land College in Mattoon, Eastern Illinois University in

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

, Parkland College in Champaign, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in Urbana–Champaign, Kankakee Community College in Kankakee, Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, and Governors State University in University Park. I-57 remains the only Chicago expressway that does not have a commonly used name. Its Chicago-area portion was formerly known as the Dan Ryan Expressway–West Leg. I-57 was named the Ken Gray Expressway in southern Illinois after former US Congressman Ken Gray (West Frankfort) for his work on getting the route planned through southern Illinois. A segment from Wentworth to Sauk Trail has been designated the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army ...

Memorial Trail, but this is not intended as a navigational name.

History

The oldest segment of I-57 is a strip running east of Bradley to Kankakee labeled on the 1959 Illinois state highway map. Two years later, a stretch of I-57 from Dongola north to Marion opened on September 26, 1961. Another portion between the IL 121/ US 45 exit and the

Watson Watson may refer to: Companies * Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals * A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa * Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center * Watson Systems, make ...

–Mason exit was completed and opened prior to July 1965, linking I-57 to I-70 and running in tandem with I-70 for several miles, with access to

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

, to the east and St. Louis, Missouri, to the west. A section of I-57 in Jefferson County from Bonnie (using a temporary road that is still partially visible from the northbound lanes) to IL 161 later opened on December 9, 1969. The portion of I-57 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

(known as the Dan Ryan West Leg Extension) was constructed and opened in segments between 1963 and 1970. It remains the most recent Interstate Highway to be established within the city. The final section of I-57 in Illinois opened in December 1971 at Paxton. The portion of I-43 from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

to Green Bay was originally numbered as Interstate 57. The number was changed due to the existence of I-57 in Illinois. I-57 was widened to six lanes in Effingham from 2011 until 2016. For many years, an interchange at the junction of I-57 with I-294 did not exist. It was one of the few places in the US where Interstates cross but have no interchange. The

Illinois Department of Transportation The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers fu ...

(IDOT) and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) opened Phase 1 of a new interchange in 2014, providing access from I-57 north to I-294 north and from I-294 south to I-57 south. Phase 2 which completed the remaining movements except for northbound I-57 to southbound I-294 and northbound I-294 to southbound I-57 was opened to traffic on September 11, 2022.

Future

I-57 is slated to eventually be extended west along US 60 to Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and then south along the US 67 corridor to North Little Rock, Arkansas, ending at I-40. In April 2016, a provision designating US 67 from North Little Rock to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, as "Future I-57" was added into the federal fiscal year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding bill and officially became law in 2017. Missouri has already upgraded of the US 60/US 67 corridor between Sikeston and Route 158 near Harviell to a mixture of freeway and expressway segments. All at-grade crossings along the corridor would have to be eliminated before the Interstate designation could be applied. A new freeway segment from Route 158 to just south of Neelyville near County Road 274 (about north of the Arkansas border) has been announced as part of a cost share program and is in the planning stages. In August 2022, redesign of the US 67 and U.S. Route 160/ Route 158 interchange began. In Arkansas, of Interstate-grade US 67 runs from I-40 to US 412 in Walnut Ridge, leaving a segment of approximately of new Interstate-grade highway along US 67 that still needs to be built in northeastern Arkansas. On February 23, 2018, Arkansas state officials unveiled a "Future I-57" sign to be posted along the corridor of US 67.

Exit list

Charleston business loop

Interstate 57 Business (I-57 Bus.) in Charleston begins at I-57 exit 10. From this diamond interchange, it runs north in a concurrency with Route 105 along South Main Street into the city center. It then turns east onto Marshall Street, which also carries US 62 and Route 77. The business route ends at I-57 exit 12, with US 62 and Route 77 continuing to the east.

References

External links