Interstate 88 (west)

Infobox road
state=IL
type=I
route=88
maint=Illinois DOT

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alternate_name=Ronald Reagan Memorial Freeway, Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway
year_established=July 1988cite news |publisher=Chicago Tribune |author=Mehler, Neil H.|date=1987-07-06 |title=Road with many names gets a new one |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CTRB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0FF688A2E691EB45&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2 |accessdate=2008-02-16]
length_mi=140.60
length_round=2
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=2006]
direction_a=West
terminus_a=Jct|state=IL|I|80|IL|5|IL|92 in Silvis
junction=Jct|state=IL|I|39 in Rochelle
Jct|state=IL|I|294 in Hinsdale
direction_b=East
terminus_b=Jct|state=IL|I|290 in Hillside
previous_type=IL
previous_route=84
next_type=IL
next_route=89

Interstate 88 (I-88) is an interstate highway entirely within the state of Illinois. It runs from an interchange with Interstate 80 near Silvis and Moline to an interchange with Interstates 290 and 294 in Hillside, near Chicago. Interstate 88 is convert|140.60|mi|km|2 long.

History

Prior to its designation as an Interstate Highway, the route was known as IL 5, and before that, IL 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. NMSL would be completely repealed only five years later in 1995, but the I-88 shields remain up to this day.

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.

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 convert|25|mi|km|0. On January 5, 2006 a fourth lane opened between Illinois 59 (mile 123.5) and Washington Street (mile 126.5 [http://maps.google.com Google Maps] estimate.] ), about convert|3|mi|km|0. In total, convert|5.7|mi|km|1 of roadway will be reconstructed, with construction continuing through 2008 from Washington Street to Finley Road(mile 131).cite web |url=http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=133,1401900&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL |title=Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), Rebuild & WidenWashington Street to Finley Road & Naperville Road Interchange |accessdate=2008-03-10 |author=Illinois State Toll Highway Authority] Three lanes of traffic were reconstructed with continuously-reinforced concrete, and a fourth outside travel lane was added as a part of the project.cite web |url=http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=54,1318100&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL |title=Tollway opens fourth lane on key section of Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) |date=2006-01-05 |accessdate=2008-03-10 |author=Kemp, Jan]

A fourth lane is to be added between Finley Road and Illinois 83 (mile 137) from December 2007 to the end of 2009.cite web |url=http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=133,1760495&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL |title=Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), Rebuild & Widen Finley Road to IL Route 83 |accessdate=2008-03-10 |author=Illinois State Toll Highway Authority] The portion of I-88 from IL 83 (mile 137) to York Road (mile 139) is to be widened and reconstructed in 2008–2009.cite web |url=http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=133,1409553&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL |title=Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) Rebuild & Widen Project IL Route 83 to York Road and York Road Plaza Rebuild |accessdate=2008-03-10 |author=Illinois State Toll Highway Authority]

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 convert|3.4|mi|km|1. 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.cite web |url=http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=133,1409552&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL |title=Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), Rebuild & Widen Project Aurora Toll Plaza to Orchard Road |accessdate=2008-03-10 |author=Illinois State Toll Highway Authority]

Exit list

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

References

External links

* [http://illi-indi.com/il_EndsPage.php?id=3088&section=1 Illinois Highway Ends: Interstate 88]
* [http://www.gcmtravelstats.com/Default.aspx?selLinks1=9 Historic, Current & Average Travel Times For The Ronald Reagan Tollway]