U.S. Route 30 in Illinois

Infobox road
highway_name = U.S. Route 30


marker_

alternate_name = Lincoln Highway
length_mi = 153.79
length_ref = cite web |author=Illinois Technology Transfer Center |url=http://www.dot.state.il.us/gist2/select.html |title=T2 GIS Data |accessdate=2007-11-08 |date=2007]
length_round = 2
direction = East-west
starting_terminus = Mississippi River at Clinton, Iowa
ending_terminus = Indiana state line in Lynwood
cities = Morrison, Rock Falls, Plainfield, Joliet
established = 1926Carlson, Rich. [http://www.n9jig.com/21-40.html Illinois Highways Page: Routes 21 thru 40] . Last updated March 15, 2005. Retrieved June 9, 2006.]
system = United States Numbered Highways
previous_route = 29
next_route = 31
previous_type = IL
next_type = IL
state = IL

In the state of Illinois, U.S. Route 30 is an east-west arterial surface road in northern Illinois. It runs from across the Mississippi River from Clinton, Iowa to Lynwood at the Indiana state line. This is a distance of convert|153.79|mi|km|2.

Route description

Mississippi River to Interstate 39

U.S. 30 crosses from Clinton, Iowa to the greater Fulton area over the Gateway Bridge. U.S. 30 bypasses most of the city of Fulton to the south. From Fulton, U.S. 30 travels southeastward through the town of Morrison en route to a crossing over the Rock River and Rock Falls. Here also, U.S. 30 bypasses the majority of the town, intersecting Illinois Route 40 and having an interchange with Interstate 88 on the southeast side of Rock Falls.

East of Rock Falls, U.S. 30 turns directly eastwards and intersects Illinois Route 26 well south of Dixon. It also intersects U.S. Route 52 at a remote location north of Amboy in Lee County. U.S. 30 remains rural continuing eastwards, intersecting Illinois Route 251 a few miles west of Interstate 39.

On the stretch of U.S. 30 between Rock Falls and Shabbona, there are no notable population centers located on the highway. This is a distance of approximately 50 miles (81 km).

Interstate 39 to Joliet

U.S. 30 continues east of the I-39 interchange on a largely straight line through the towns of Shabbona, Waterman and Hinckley. In Sugar Grove at Illinois Route 47, the character of the road changes relatively quickly.

Near the Aurora Municipal Airport in Sugar Grove, U.S. 30 has an interchange with the western terminus of Illinois Route 56 and Illinois 47. U.S. 30 exits south with Illinois 47 and remains concurrent for a couple of miles; U.S. 30 then turns east at the Kendall/Kane county line. U.S. 30 then intersects Illinois Route 31, the Fox River and Illinois Route 25 in Montgomery; east of Montgomery, U.S. 30 overlaps U.S. Route 34 for a short distance, and then turns south-southeast to Plainfield, picking up the Lincoln Highway designation.

Since a 2008 realignment, U.S. 30 passes a mile to the north of downtown Plainfield on 143rd Street, then turns south onto Illinois Route 59 (Division Street) for approximately one mile. Southeast of downtown, U.S. 30 leaves Illinois 59 and heads southeast toward Joliet. Prior to 2008, U.S. 30 ran directly through downtown Plainfield on Lockport Street, briefly sharing alignment with Illinois Route 126, before joining Illinois 59 for three blocks.

U.S. 30 intersects Interstate 55 at a busy commercial center in the far northwest corner of Joliet. A major construction project, begun in 2006, is in process to widen the remaining two-lane sections in this area to four lanes. A similar project was completed on other sections in far western Joliet and Crest Hill during the few years before.

U.S. 30 intersects an east-west segment of Illinois Route 7 (Theodore Street) as it runs through the major commercial district of Crest Hill. It then continues southeast into the central part of the city of Joliet.

Joliet to Indiana state line

Within Joliet, U.S. 30 runs on Plainfield Road, then Center Street, where it splits onto Jefferson Street eastbound and Western Avenue/Cass Street westbound, concurrent with U.S. Route 6 east of the Des Plaines River. The U.S. 6/30 combination eastbound begins at Scott Street and ends at Collins Street; westbound it starts at Collins and ends at Ottawa Street. There are also intersections at Scott Street and Ottawa Street with Illinois Route 53, which runs north-south through downtown Joliet. U.S. 30 continues eastbound on Cass Street.

At Interstate 80, U.S. 30 is once again called the Lincoln Highway, running through the southern suburbs of New Lenox, Frankfort, Matteson, Chicago Heights, Ford Heights and Lynwood. It intersects U.S. Route 45 (La Grange Road) and Interstate 57 in Frankfort, Illinois Route 1 (Halsted Street) in Chicago Heights, Illinois Route 394 near Sauk Village and the southern terminus of Illinois Route 83 in Lynwood.

West of Illinois 43, U.S. 30 generally has two lanes plus a center turn lane; east of Illinois 43, the width of the road fluctuates between four and six lanes and is occasionally divided by a median. A 2003-2004 reconstruction project widened U.S. 30 to four lanes between Illinois 394 and the Indiana state line.

History

U.S. Route 30 in Illinois has undergone many major changes since its inception in 1926. It originally ran from Fulton (on the modern-day Lyons-Fulton Bridge) through Chicago using current U.S. 30, Illinois Route 2 east of Sterling to Dixon and Illinois Route 38 from Dixon to Bellwood (the full length of Illinois 38). It then followed Roosevelt Road, various city streets, Stony Island Avenue and Torrence Avenue to reach Indiana.

In 1932, U.S. 30 was relocated onto the Lincoln Highway in the southern suburbs, from Torrence Avenue to Illinois 31 in the Fox River Valley. U.S. 30 then concurrent with current Illinois 31 (then called "U.S. Route 430") north to Illinois 38 in Geneva, and kept the 1926 routing westward from Geneva. The old U.S. 30 through Chicago became "U.S. Route 330". In the Fox River Valley, U.S. 430 was created and ran north to Richmond from Geneva.

Between 1932 and 1942, U.S. 30 was relocated west of Geneva to Sterling on a new, more direct road further south. U.S. 330 was extended westward as U.S. 30 was relocated south. In 1937, U.S. 430 was dropped in favor of Illinois 31.

In 1942, U.S. 330 was dropped entirely and became Alternate U.S. Route 30, which lasted until 1971.

In June 1956, the Gateway Bridge bridge opened south of the Lyons-Fulton Bridge.Weeks, John. [http://www.johnweeks.com/upper_mississippi/pagesB/umissB03.html US-30 Gateway Bridge, Clinton, IA] . Last updated 2005. Retrieved June 9, 2006.] U.S. 30 was rerouted south onto this bridge, and the old route named another Alternate U.S. Route 30 — this was soon changed to Illinois Route 136 so as to match Iowa Highway 136 on the other side of the Mississippi River.

In 1959, U.S. 30 was rerouted around Aurora. The old route through Aurora (present-day Galena Boulevard, New York Street and Hill Avenue) became City U.S. Route 30; this lasted all of one year until 1960 when it was renamed Business U.S. Route 30. Business U.S. 30 lasted a little longer before being removed in 1970.

In 1963, the East-West Tollway was built. From 1963 to 1965, the tollway was marked as Toll U.S. Route 30 and ran along modern-day I-88, Interstate 294, and the present-day Illinois 394 (which in 1963 was called Illinois 1 until 1964, when it became Illinois 394). The East-West Tollway portion was renamed to "Illinois Route 190" in 1965, and eventually became Illinois Route 5 before becoming I-88 in 1988.

In 1971, Alternate U.S. Route 30 in northeastern Illinois was changed to Illinois 38 west of Bellwood, and dropped through the city of Chicago.

References