Interstate 88 (west)

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Interstate 88 Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Ronald Reagan Memorial Freeway Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway Maintained by Illinois DOT
Length:	140.60 mi[1] (226.27 km)
Formed:	July 1988[2]
West end:	I-80/IL 5/IL 92 near Silvis, IL
Major junctions:	I-39 in Rochelle, IL Interstate 294 in Hinsdale, IL
East end:	I-290 in Hillside, IL
Illinois state highway system < IL 84 IL 89 >

Major cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs
Rock Island-Moline Sterling-Rock Falls Dixon Rochelle DeKalb Aurora Chicago

Interstate 88 (abbreviated I-88) is an interstate highway entirely within the state of Illinois. It runs from an intersection with Interstate 80 near Silvis, Illinois, near Moline to an intersection with Interstates 290 and 294 in Hillside, Illinois, near Chicago. Interstate 88 is 140.60 miles (226.27 km) long.^[1]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway 1.2 2005-2009 reconstruction 2 Exit list 3 References 4 External links

[edit] History

Prior to its designation as an Interstate Highway, the route was known as Illinois Route 5, and before that, Illinois 190.

The reason for I-88's original designation and continued existence as an Interstate has to do with a technicality in the old National Maximum Speed Law (NMSL). Originally passed in 1973, NMSL was amended in 1987 to permit 65-mph (105 km/h) speed limits on rural stretches of Interstate highways only. In spite of the fact that IL 5 was fully up to Interstate standards, it still had to carry a 55 mph (88 km/h) limit because of this wording in NMSL. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) petitioned the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to re-designate IL 5 as an Interstate, and in 1988, AASHTO approved the request and assigned the Interstate 88 numbering to the highway.^[2] NMSL would be completely repealed only five years later in 1995, but the I-88 shields remain up to this day.

[edit] Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway

The Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway, originally known as the East-West Tollway, is a toll road in northern Illinois.

Opened November 21, 1958, it was initially designated as U.S. Route 30 Toll, and later Illinois Route 190. The original routing extended from the Interstate 294 interchange near Hillside to Illinois Route 47 near Sugar Grove. Illinois Route 56 was overlapped on the East-West Tollway between North Aurora and Sugar Grove in 1965. That length of Route 56 makes it the only state road to be concurrent with one of the tollways of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.

When the East-West Tollway was extended to Interstate 80 near the Illinois/Iowa border in the 1970s, the Illinois 190 numbering was removed from the stretch between Aurora and Sugar Grove, making that section strictly Illinois 56. Once complete, the new routing of the tollway between Interstate 80 and Interstate 294 became designated as Illinois Route 5. In the late 1980s, it was renumbered as Interstate 88.

The road is officially a tollway east of the Sterling/Rock Falls area, east of the intersection with U.S. Route 30, to its terminus near Hillside. West of U.S. 30 to Interstate 80, Interstate 88 is a freeway. The tollway portion is 96 miles (154 km) long.

After the death of Illinois native and former President Ronald Reagan in 2004, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority voted to rename the toll roadway in his memory, as it passes near his birthplace of Tampico and his boyhood home of Dixon.

Reagan was a native of nearby Dixon, Illinois. Similarly, ISTHA renamed the toll portion "Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway." The tollway portion of I-88 was previously known as the "East West Tollway".

There is no direct off-ramp access to U.S. Route 52, Illinois Route 23, Illinois Route 25, and Illinois Route 83 (northbound). In addition, I-88 merges with Illinois Route 56 for a short distance. During the merge, Illinois 56 is the only tolled state route in Illinois.

As of 2007, I-88 has no spur routes. None are planned for the near future.

[edit] 2005-2009 reconstruction

In 2005, ISTHA initiated a reconstruction and widening project for most of I-88 between Sugar Grove and York Road, a distance of 25 miles (40 km). On January 5, 2006 a fourth lane opened between Illinois 59 (mile 123.5) and Washington Street (mile 126.5^[3]), about 3 miles (5 km). In total, 5.7 miles (9.2 km) of roadway will be reconstructed, with construction continuing through 2008 from Washington Street to Finley Road(mile 131).^[4] Three lanes of traffic were reconstructed with continuously-reinforced concrete, and a fourth outside travel lane was added as a part of the project.^[5]

A fourth lane is to be added between Finley Road and Illinois 83 (mile 137) from December 2007 to the end of 2009.^[6] The portion of I-88 from IL 83 (mile 137) to York Road (mile 139) is to be widened and reconstructed in 2008–2009.^[7]

On the western portion of the work zone, I-88 is to be widened to three lanes between Orchard Road (mile 115) and the Aurora Toll Plaza (mile 117.5), a distance of 3.4 miles (5.5 km). Included in the project is construction of a new bridge over the Fox River, reconstruction of the interchange with Illinois Route 31, and removal of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe bridge just west of IL 31. The work is to take place between summer 2007 and the end of 2009.^[8]

[edit] Exit list

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority does not use exit numbers.

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
I-88 western terminus. ILL 5/92 continues westbound.
Rock Island	Silvis			IL 5 west / IL 92 west – Moline, Rock Island
			1	I-80 East / To I-74 — Peoria I-80 West — Des Moines	Signed as exits 1A (east) and 1B (west)
			2	Former IL 2
	Joslin		6	IL 92 east – Joslin	East end of IL 92 overlap
	Hillsdale		10	Hillsdale, Port Byron	Former IL 2
Whiteside	Erie		18	Erie, Albany
	Lyndon		26	IL 78 – Morrison, Prophetstown
	Rock Falls		36	US 30 west – Clinton, Rock Falls, Sterling
			40	IL 40 – Rock Falls, Sterling
		44	44	US 30 – Joliet, Rock Falls
		East end of tollway west end of toll road
Lee	Dixon	54.5		IL 26 – Dixon
		56.5	Dixon Toll Plaza
Ogle	Rochelle	76		IL 251 – Rochelle, Mendota
		78.5		I-39 / US 51 – Rockford, Bloomington, Normal
DeKalb	DeKalb	91.5		To IL 38 / IL 23 / Annie Glidden Road – DeKalb
		91.5	DeKalb Toll Plaza
		93	DeKalb Oasis
		94		To IL 38 / Peace Road
Kane	Sugar Grove	109.5		IL 47	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		113.5		IL 56 west to IL 47 / US 30 – Sugar Grove	West end of IL 56 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	North Aurora	115		Orchard Road
		117		IL 31 / IL 56 east – Aurora, Batavia	East end of IL 56 overlap
			Bridge over the Fox River
		117.5	Aurora Toll Plaza
	Aurora	119		Farnsworth Avenue
DuPage	Naperville	123.5		IL 59
	Warrenville	125		Winfield Road
	Naperville	128		Naperville Road
	Lisle	130		IL 53	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Downers Grove	131		I-355 south – Joliet
		131.5		I-355 north - Northwest Suburbs
		134.5		Highland Avenue
	Oak Brook	135	Meyers Road Toll Plaza (eastbound only)
		136.5		Midwest Road	Eastbound exit and entrance
		137		IL 83 / Cermak Road, 22nd Street	No eastbound exit
		138	York Road Toll Plaza (westbound only)
	Hillside	139		I-294 south (Tri-State Tollway) - Indiana	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Cook		140.5		I-294 north (Tri-State Tollway) / I-290 west - Milwaukee, Rockford	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		140.5		I-294 south / IL 38 west (Roosevelt Road) - Indiana	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				US 12 / US 20 / US 45 (Mannheim Road)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				I-290 east – Chicago	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
I-88 eastern terminus. Road joins with I-290 eastbound.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Illinois Highway Ends: Interstate 88

edit Main Interstate Highways (multiples of 5 in pink)
4	5	8	10	12	15	16	17	19	20	22	24	25	26	27	29	30
35	37	39	40	43	44	45	49	55	57	59	64	65	66	68	69
70	71	72	73	74	75	76 (W)		76 (E)		77	78	79	80	81	82
83	84 (W)		84 (E)		85	86 (W)		86 (E)		87	88 (W)		88 (E)		89	90
91	93	94	95	96	97	99	(238)		H-1		H-2		H-3
Unsigned			A-1		A-2		A-3		A-4		PRI-1		PRI-2		PRI-3
Lists		Primary			Main - Intrastate - Suffixed - Future - Gaps
		Auxiliary			Main - Future - Unsigned
		Other			Standards - Business - Bypassed