Interstate 74 in Illinois

Interstate 74
Everett McKinley Dirksen Memorial Highway
I-74 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by IDOT
Length	220.34 mi (354.60 km)
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
West end	I-74 / US 6 at Moline
Major intersections	I-280 / US 6 in Moline I-80 / I-280 in Colona US 34 in Galesburg I-474 in Peoria I-474 in East Peoria I-155 near Morton I-55 / US 51 in Bloomington I-57 in Champaign US 45 in Urbana
East end	I-74 at Danville
Location
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Counties	Rock Island, Henry, Knox, Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, McLean, DeWitt, Piatt, Champaign, Vermilion
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Illinois State Highway System Interstate US State Tollways Scenic
← IL 73 → IL 75

Interstate 74 (I-74) in the US state of Illinois is a major northwest–southeast Interstate Highway that runs across the central portion of the state. It runs from the Iowa state line at the Mississippi River near the city of Rock Island and runs southeast to the Indiana state line east of Danville, a distance of 220.34 miles (354.60 km). The highway runs through the major cities of Champaign, Bloomington, Peoria, and Moline.

The highway is officially named after Everett McKinley Dirksen, a Republican senator and representative from Pekin from 1933 to his death in 1969.

Route description

I-74 in Illinois runs parallel with U.S. Route 6 (US 6) in the Quad Cities, US 150 from the Quad Cities to Danville, and US 136 east of Danville.

Iowa state line to Bloomington–Normal

After crossing the Iowa state line and the Mississippi River via the I-74 Bridge (through arch span), I-74, as well as US 6, enters the city of Moline. At first, the freeway travels southward, meeting River Drive, Illinois Route 92 (IL 92, 6th Avenue), 7th Avenue, Avenue of the Cities, and IL 5 (John Deere Road), before reaching I-280. Near the Quad Cities International Airport, I-74 turns eastward along I-280 while US 6 continues south for a short distance. Southeast of Colona, I-280 ends at the Big X interchange while I-74 turns southward via ramps. This interchange is also where I-80 turns east via ramps. At this point, I-74 runs along IL 110 all the way to Galesburg. Along the way, the freeway comes across IL 81 and IL 17 before meeting US 34. At this point, IL 110 travels west along US 34 while I-74 continues south.

East of Galesburg, I-74 begins to curve southeastward. Along the way, it meets US 150 in Knoxville, local roads near Brimfield, and one near Kickapoo before meeting I-474/IL 6. I-474 serves as a southern bypass of Peoria. Along the way through Peoria, it comes across Sterling Avenue, then US 150, Gale Avenue, University Street, IL 40, IL 29 (where they become concurrent), and the Murray Baker Bridge. East of Peoria, the freeway then meets IL 40 (Riverfront Drive), US 24/US 150/IL 29 (where IL 29 leaves the concurrency)/IL 116, US 150/IL 8, and Pinecrest Drive, before meeting I-474 again. After the I-474 interchange, it then meets the I-155 interchange, as well as Morton Avenue, in Morton. The freeway then meets IL 117 in Goodfield, a local road near Carlock, and US 150 near Yuton. As it approaches Normal, I-74 then meets I-55/US 51 at a trumpet interchange, which then turns south.

Bloomington–Normal to Indiana state line

The concurrency then meets US 150 in Bloomington before I-55 branches southwestward at the I-55 Business (I-55 Bus.) interchange. After that, US 51 branches southward at US 51 Bus. I-74 then travels southeastward at this point. Along the way, it meets two local roads serving Downs and Le Roy, respectively; US 136; IL 54; another local road near Mansfield; IL 47; and another local road near Mahomet. As it approaches Champaign, it then comes across I-57, then Prospect Avenue, and then Neil Street. For Urbana, it serves Lincoln Avenue, US 45, and IL 130. After leaving the city of Urbana, it then serves two local roads for St. Joseph and Ogden, IL 49, another local road for Oakwood, and US 150. At this point, I-74 becomes a freeway bypass of Danville. In Tilton, it serves G Street as well as US 150/IL 1. After crossing the Vermilion River, it then meets Bowman Road and Lynch Road. Shortly after the Lynch Road interchange, I-74 crosses the Indiana state line.

History

Original ramp configurations in Peoria, prior to Upgrade 74 project

South of Moline, the bridges over the Rock River were completed some years before they were opened to traffic. They were finally put into service on October 7, 1964, when a temporary terminus on 27th Street was opened. The section of Interstate 74 from there through Moline was opened on December 10, 1975.

In November 2006, major work was completed on the Upgrade 74 project for the portion of I-74 in the Midwest. This multiyear project, begun in April 2002, saw the complete renovation of I-74 through East Peoria and Peoria. Most notably, the Interstate was widened to three lanes through the cities, many blind or hairpin exits and entrances to the highway were removed or corrected, and many bridges crossing the highway were replaced. The biggest part of this project was to work on the Murray Baker Bridge, over which I-74 crosses the Illinois River. The bridge was completely closed to traffic while being partially dismantled and reconstructed from April 2 to October 15, 2005. During this time, I-74 was disconnected between Peoria and East Peoria. In late March 2013, the biggest road reconstruction project in the Peoria area since the 2002–2006 project—a complete $86.6-million (equivalent to $126 million in 2023) revision of the Morton I-74/I-155 interchange system—started its beginning phases (Morton, a hub for the two Interstates and the site of facilities for Caterpillar Inc., PepsiCo, and Libby's, is a growing Peoria suburb, across the Illinois River, east of East Peoria and Pekin, in Tazewell County). This latest project was scheduled to be finished by mid-2016, and the reconstruction is being scheduled in phases to minimize traffic disruption. In 2020, the Murray Baker Bridge was closed for seven months for a $42.2-million project. At the end of October, it reopened with new decorative and traffic lights.

I-74 Bridge replacement project

Main article: I-74 Bridge#New bridge

I-74 once began on the old I-74 Bridge over the Mississippi River at Moline

The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) and Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) were in the planning stages to build a new bridge to replace the aging I-74 Bridge. The Iowa-bound bridge opened in 1935; the Illinois-bound bridge in 1958. In addition to replacing the twin bridges, the scope of the bistate coalition's plan includes updating seven miles (11 km) of I-74 mainline and interchanges from 53rd Street in Davenport to the Avenue of the Cities in Moline. The new twin span fully opened on December 1, 2021.

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Mississippi River		0.00	0.00		I-74 west / US 6 west – Davenport	Continuation into Iowa
				I-74 Bridge
Rock Island	Moline	0.64	1.03	1A	To IL 92 / River Drive / 3rd Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only
		0.94– 1.17	1.51– 1.88	1B (EB) 2 (WB)	IL 92 east (6th Avenue) To IL 92 / 7th Avenue
		2.09	3.36	3	Avenue of the Cities
		3.59	5.78	4	IL 5 (John Deere Road) to I-88	Signed as exits 4A (west) and 4B (east)
		4.51	7.26	5	I-280 west – Des Moines, Rock Island US 6 east to US 150 – Quad City Airport	Eastern end of US 6 concurrency; western end of I-280 concurrency; signed as exits 5A (I-280 west) eastbound and 5B (US 6 east) westbound; I-280 east exit 18B
Henry	Colona Township	13.89	22.35	—	I-80 / IL 110 (CKC) east to I-88 – Chicago, Des Moines, Davenport I-280 ends	Big X; eastern terminus of I-280; western end of IL 110/CKC concurrency
	Lynn Township	23.92	38.50	24	IL 81 – Andover, Cambridge
	Woodhull	31.89	51.32	32	IL 17 – Woodhull, Alpha
Knox	Galesburg	45.50	73.23	46A	US 34 west / IL 110 (CKC) west – Monmouth	Eastern end of IL 110/CKC concurrency
				46B	US 34 east – Kewanee
		48.09	77.39	48	East Main Street – Galesburg, East Galesburg	Westbound signed as exits 48A (west) and 48B (east)
	Knoxville	50.87	81.87	51	CR 9 – Knoxville
	Knox Township	53.54	86.16	54	US 150 to IL 97 – Lewistown
Peoria	Brimfield Township	71.15	114.50	71	To IL 78 – Canton, Kewanee
	Brimfield	74.55	119.98	75	CR R25 (Maher Road) – Brimfield, Oak Hill
	Kickapoo Township	81.78	131.61	82	Kickapoo, Edwards
		86.78	139.66	87A	I-474 east – Indianapolis	Western terminus of I-474; I-474 exit 0
				87B	IL 6 north – Chillicothe	Southern terminus of IL 6; IL 6 exit 0
	Peoria	88.69	142.73	88	Sterling Avenue to US 150 (War Memorial Drive)	Access to US 150 signed eastbound only
		89.15	143.47	89	US 150 (War Memorial Drive)	Access from eastbound I-74 to westbound US 150 and from eastbound US 150 to westbound I-74 at exit 88
		90.22	145.20	90	Gale Avenue
		91.41	147.11	91	University Street
		92.41	148.72	92A	IL 40 north (Knoxville Avenue)
				92B	IL 40 south / Glen Oak Avenue – Downtown Peoria
					Glendale Avenue	Former right-in/right-out; replaced by exit 92B
					Jefferson Avenue	Former interchange with no eastbound exit; replaced by exit 93
		93.17– 93.26	149.94– 150.09	93	To IL 29 north / Washington Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; serves General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport
					IL 29 north (Adams Street) / Jefferson Avenue – Downtown Peoria	Western end of IL 29 concurrency; westbound exit and eastbound entrance; serves General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport
Illinois River		93.36– 93.89	150.25– 151.10	Murray Baker Bridge
Tazewell	East Peoria	93.21	150.01	94	IL 40 north / Riverfront Drive – Downtown Peoria via Michel Bridge	Southern terminus of IL 40
		95.02	152.92	95A	IL 29 south / US 150 / US 24 / IL 116 (North Main Street)	Eastern end of IL 29 concurrency; signed as exit 95 westbound
		95.33	153.42	95B	US 150 / IL 8 east (Camp Street)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		95.52	153.72	96	To US 150 / IL 8 east / East Washington Street
		97.66	157.17	98	Pinecrest Drive
		99.00	159.33	99	I-474 west – Moline, Rock Island, Pekin	Eastern terminus of I-474; I-474 exit 15
	Morton	101.02	162.58	101	I-155 south – Lincoln	Northern terminus of I-155
		102.06	164.25	102	Morton
Woodford	Goodfield	112.01	180.26	112	IL 117 north – Goodfield	Southern terminus of IL 117
McLean	Carlock	119.83	192.85	120	Carlock
	Dry Grove Township	124.99	201.15	125	US 150 (Rivian Motorway)
	Normal Township	127.10	204.55	127	I-55 north / US 51 north to I-39 north – Chicago, Rockford	Western end of I-55/US 51 concurrency; I-55 south exit 163
	Bloomington	130.46	209.96	160	US 150 / IL 9 (Market Street) – Pekin	Exit number follows I-55
		133.34	214.59	134A	I-55 south – St. Louis, Springfield	Eastern end of I-55 concurrency; I-55 north exit 157A
		133.62	215.04	134B	I-55 BL north (Veterans Parkway) – Airport
	Bloomington Township	135.20	217.58	135	US 51 south (Main Street) / US 51 Bus. north – Decatur, Bloomington	Eastern end of US 51 concurrency
	Downs	142.21	228.86	142	Downs
	Le Roy	149.00	239.79	149	Le Roy
	Empire Township	151.79	244.28	152	US 136 – Rantoul, Heyworth
DeWitt	Farmer City	158.74	255.47	159	IL 54 – Farmer City, Gibson City
Piatt	Blue Ridge Township	165.86	266.93	166	Mansfield
Champaign	Mahomet	171.51	276.02	172	IL 47 – Gibson City, Mahomet
		173.40	279.06	174	Prairieview Road
	Champaign	178.65	287.51	179	I-57 to I-72 west – Memphis, Chicago, Decatur	Signed as exits 179A (south) & 179B (north); exit 237 on I-57
		180.27	290.12	181	Prospect Avenue
		181.02	291.32	182	Neil Street
	Urbana	182.30	293.38	183	Lincoln Avenue
		183.58	295.44	184	US 45 (Cunningham Avenue) – Rantoul
		185.05	297.81	185	IL 130 (University Avenue)
	St. Joseph	191.90	308.83	192	St. Joseph
	Ogden	196.41	316.09	197	To IL 49 south – Royal, Ogden
Vermilion	Oakwood Township	199.42	320.94	200	IL 49 – Fithian, Rankin
		205.97	331.48	206	Potomac, Oakwood
	Danville Township	209.57	337.27	210	US 150 (M.L. King Drive)
	Danville	213.23	343.16	214	G Street
		213.95	344.32	215A	US 150 east / IL 1 south (Georgetown Road)	Cloverleaf interchange
				215B	US 150 west / IL 1 north (Gilbert Street)
		215.48	346.78	216	Bowman Avenue, Perrysville Road
Illinois–Indiana line		219.33– 219.66	352.98– 353.51	220	Lynch Road	Eastbound entrance extends into Indiana
					I-74 east – Indianapolis	Continuation into Indiana
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

External links

• Media related to Interstate 74 in Illinois at Wikimedia Commons