Interstate 72

Interstate 72 (I-72) is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. Its western terminus is in Hannibal, Missouri, at an intersection with U.S. Route 61; its eastern terminus is at Country Fair Drive in Champaign, Illinois. The route runs through the major cities of Decatur, Illinois and Springfield, Illinois. In 2006, the Illinois General Assembly dedicated all of Interstate 72 as Purple Heart Memorial Highway. The stretch between Springfield and Decatur is also called Penny Severns Memorial Expressway, and the section between Mile 35 and the Mississippi River is known as the Free Frank McWorter Historic Highway.

Interstate 72
I-72 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MoDOT and IDOT
Length179.29 mi[1] (288.54 km)
Existed1970–present
Major junctions
West end
US 36 / US 36 Bus. / US 61 in Hannibal, MO
 
East endCountry Fair Drive in Champaign, IL
Location
StatesMissouri, Illinois
CountiesMO: Marion
IL: Pike, Scott, Morgan, Sangamon, Macon, Piatt, Champaign
Highway system
US 71MO Route 72
IL 71IL IL 72

Route description

Lengths
 mi[1]km
MO 2.04 3.28
IL 177.25 285.26
Total 179.29 288.54

I-72 runs for just over 2 miles (3.2 km) in the state of Missouri. Its western terminus is an interchange with U.S. Route 61 to the Mark Twain Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River. This bridge connects the city of Hannibal with Illinois. Presently, there are only two exits for I-72 in Missouri.

I-72 parallels the old Wabash Railroad from Hannibal, east through Illinois to Champaign, Illinois. The Norfolk Southern Railway operates this railroad route today.

In Illinois, I-72 runs for 182 miles (293 km). The portion of I-72 and I-172 from Springfield to Quincy is commonly referred to as the Central Illinois Expressway (CIE). As of 2007, I-72 has one business route; Business Loop 72 in Jacksonville.

Near Valley City at mile marker 42 are the Valley City Eagle Bridges. These two individual two-lane spans bridge the Illinois River in rural west-central Illinois. Near mile marker 78, a sign marks 90 degrees longitude.

At its eastern terminus in Champaign, I-72 continues as Church Street (westbound) and University Avenue (eastbound), which stay as one-way streets for an additional 3 miles (4.8 km) into downtown Champaign.

History

A section of I-72, north of Seymour, Illinois, looking west

Until the mid-1990s, I-72 ran from Springfield at Interstate 55 to Champaign at Interstate 57. On June 9, 1991, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved the establishment of Interstate 172 from the western terminus of I-72 at Springfield to Fall Creek, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Hannibal, Missouri, though it was contingent on Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approval. The FHWA preferred to designate the route I-72.[2][3]

After discussions regarding extending an Interstate highway through the state of Missouri, on April 22, 1995, AASHTO approved another renumbering. I-172 was renumbered in its entirety as I-72. The U.S. 36 extension west of Fall Creek was also given the I-72 designation. The Illinois Route 336 expressway was renumbered to I-172 from Fall Creek to Fowler.[3][4]

Prior to September 2000, Mark Twain Avenue (old US 36) was composed of the current Mark Twain Avenue (now Route 79) and the portion of I-72 and US 36 west of Exit 157 to the Hannibal city limits. Route 79 terminated at the foot of the old Mark Twain Memorial Bridge at the corner of Third Street and Mark Twain Avenue. Signs along the four lane expressway portion of Mark Twain Avenue marked the route as "Future I-72", while signs along what is now Route 79 had I-72 trailblazers to direct drivers to the temporary terminus at Fall Creek, Illinois. When the new Mark Twain Memorial Bridge was completed in September 2000, I-72 was routed over the new bridge, along with US 36. Route 79 was extended along Mark Twain Avenue to terminate at Exit 157.

Chicago–Kansas City Expressway

The concept of I-72 across Missouri was to create the Chicago–Kansas City Expressway, a rural four lane highway across northern Missouri and west central Illinois from Cameron, Missouri at I-35 to Springfield, Illinois at I-55. This would provide a series of rural four lane highways (I-35, US 36, I-72, and I-55) connecting Chicago to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Corridor (High Priority Corridor 23). This would reduce the amount of through traffic, primarily truck traffic, in the St. Louis, Des Moines, and Quad Cities metropolitan areas by serving as an alternate route for I-70 and I-80. The Missouri portion of this route is designated as part of High Priority Corridor 61.

Based on the 157-mile (253 km) marker at Route 79, if/when US 36 is upgraded to Interstate standards across Missouri, the future western terminus of I-72 would be at Cameron, Missouri at the intersection with I-35. Currently, the west end of I-72 route is west of US 61 and flows concurrent with US 36 into Illinois. In 2004, US 36 was upgraded to a four lane expressway between US 61 and US 24 at the Rocket Junction (7 miles). There are three exits along this expressway: Veterans Road, Shinn Lane (Hannibal Regional Hospital), and US 24 East at the Rocket Junction. Also, an interchange with Route 15 was installed in Shelbina.

Due to funding priorities, upgrading US 36 between Macon and Hannibal was a low-priority project and was shelved. MoDOT committed to constructing the four lane highway as a at-grade expressway only if the five counties served by US 36 east of Macon would contribute half of the $100 million cost. Road construction to complete the 52.4 miles (84.3 km) between Hannibal and Macon began in 2007. In August 2010, the four lane expressway was completed from Macon to Hannibal, completing Missouri's portion of the Chicago-Kansas City Expressway.[5]

Exit list

StateCountyLocationmi[6]kmExitDestinationsNotes
MissouriMarionHannibal0.0000.000 US 36 / Route 110 west Monroe City, Kansas CityContinuation beyond US 36 Bus. / US 61
0.1840.296
US 36 Bus. east / US 61 (McMasters Avenue) New London, Palmyra
West end of US 61 Bus. overlap
1.2261.973157
US 36 Bus. west / US 61 Bus. south / Route 79 south / Route N north Downtown Hannibal, Louisiana
East end of US 61 Bus. overlap; exit number based on possible future western terminus at I-35 in Cameron.
Mississippi River2.056
0.0
3.309
0.0
Mark Twain Memorial Bridge
IllinoisPikeLevee Township1.201.931 IL 106 Hull
4.256.844
I-172 north / IL 110 (CKC) east Quincy, Chicago
Left exit from both directions; I-172 exit 0.
Kinderhook Township10.3116.5910 IL 96 / IL 106 Payson, Hull
Barry20.2332.5620 To IL 106 Barry
New Salem Township31.3550.4531Pittsfield, New Salem
Griggsville Township35.0756.4435 US 54 west Pittsfield
IL 107 north Griggsville
Eastern terminus of US 54
ScottBloomfield Precinct45.9073.8746 IL 100 Bluffs, DetroitDetroit signed westbound only
Winchester No. 2 Precinct51.9783.6452 To IL 106 Winchester
MorganLynnville Precinct60.5797.4860 I-72 BL east / US 67 Alton, Beardstown, JacksonvilleSigned as exits 60A (south) and 60B (north)
South Jacksonville64.15103.2464 IL 267 (Main Street) Alton, Jacksonville
Pisgah Precinct68.56110.3468 I-72 BL west to IL 104 (Morton Avenue) Jacksonville
Alexander Precinct75.69121.8176Ashland, Alexander
SangamonIsland GroveNew Berlin
township line
81.99131.9582New Berlin
Springfield91.35147.0191Wabash Avenue
93.86151.0593 IL 4 (Veterans Parkway) Chatham
95.67153.9796MacArthur Boulevard
97.16156.3692
97
I-55 south / I-55 BL north (6th Street) Springfield, St. LouisWest end of I-55 overlap; signed as exit 97A (south) and 97B (north) eastbound. Signed as exit 92A (north) westbound. Westbound I-72 exits southbound I-55 via exit 92B.
99.61160.3194Stevenson Drive, East Lake Drive
101.56163.4496 IL 29 (South Grand Avenue) TaylorvilleSigned as exits 96A (south) and 96B (north)
102.66165.2298
103
I-55 north Chicago
IL 97 west (Clear Lake Avenue)
East end of I-55 overlap; I-72 eastbound exits I-55 via exit 98A, I-72 westbound exits itself via exit 103A. IL 97 signed as exit 98B eastbound. Northbound I-55 signed as exit 103B westbound.
Clear Lake Township103.58166.70104Camp Butler
107.75173.41108Riverton, DawsonDawson signed eastbound only
Mechanicsburg Township113.82183.18114Buffalo, Mechanicsburg, DawsonDawson signed westbound only
Illiopolis Township121.88196.15122Mt. Auburn, Illiopolis
MaconNiantic Township127.11204.56128Niantic
Harristown132.77213.67133 US 36 east / US 51 south Decatur, PanaEast end of US 36 overlap; west end of US 51 overlap; signed as exits 133A (east) and 133B (south)
Decatur137.51221.30138 IL 121 Decatur, Lincoln
140.58226.24141 US 51 north Bloomington, DecaturEast end of US 51 overlap, signed as exit 141A (south) and 141B (north)
Whitmore Township143.81231.44144 IL 48 Oreana, Decatur
149.03239.84150Argenta
MaconPiatt
county line
Friends CreekWillow Branch
township line
155.33249.98156 IL 48 Cisco, Weldon
PiattMonticello Township163.40262.97164Monticello
MonticelloSangamon
township line
165.38266.15166 IL 105 west Monticello
Sangamon Township168.39271.00169White Heath Road
170.95275.12172 IL 10 Clinton
ChampaignScott Township175.72282.79176 IL 47 Mahomet
Champaign181.13291.50182 I-57 to I-74 Memphis, ChicagoSigned as exits 182A (south) and 182B (north). I-57 exit 235.
University Avenue, Church StreetContinuation beyond I-57.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Auxiliary routes

Interstate 72 Business
LocationJacksonville
Length9.5 mi[7] (15.3 km)

Interstate 72 Business (abbreviated BL 72) is a Business Loop of I-72 in Jacksonville. It runs from the U.S. 36/I-72/U.S. 67 interchange southwest of Jacksonville north along the U.S. 67 bypass of Jacksonville to the former alignment of U.S. 36 (Morton Avenue). On Morton Avenue, BL 72 runs east through downtown Jacksonville until it reaches I-72 at exit 68. This is a distance of 9.5 miles (15.3 km).[7]

References

  1. Federal Highway Administration (December 31, 2016). "FHWA Route Log and Finder List: Table 1". Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  2. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (June 9, 1991). "Report of the Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering to the Executive Committee" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
  3. "Interstate 172 Illinois". Interstate-Guide.com.
  4. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (April 23, 1995). "Report of the Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering to the Standing Committee on Highways" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 4, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
  5. Missouri Department of Transportation, North Central District (2007), U.S. 36 4-Laning Project: Contract Awarded for Route 36 Four-lane Project from Shelbina to Macon, MoDOT
  6. Missouri Department of Transportation (November 13, 2012). MoDOT HPMAPS (Map). Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
  7. Google maps estimate.

KML is from Wikidata


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