Interstate 88 (Illinois)
Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway | ||||
I-88 highlighted in red | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by IDOT and ISTHA | ||||
Length | 140.60 mi[2][3] (226.27 km) | |||
Existed | July 1987[1]–present | |||
NHS | Entire route | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||
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East end | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Illinois | |||
Counties | Rock Island, Whiteside, Lee, Ogle, DeKalb, Kane, DuPage, Cook | |||
Highway system | ||||
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Interstate 88 (I-88) is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Illinois that runs from an interchange with I-80 near Silvis and Moline to an interchange with I-290 and I-294 in Hillside, near Chicago. I-88 is 140.60 miles (226.27 km) long. This route is not contiguous with I-88 in New York. Since 2010, most of I-88 has been part of the Chicago–Kansas City Expressway. The highway also runs through the cities of Aurora, Naperville, DeKalb, and Dixon. East of Rock Falls, the route is a part of the Illinois Tollway system as the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway, previously the East-West Tollway.
Route description
[edit]I-88 runs concurrently with Illinois Route 110 (IL 110) and its speed limit is 70 mph (110 km/h) west of IL 47. East of this point, the speed limit is 65 mph (105 km/h) to the Aurora toll plaza, and 60 mph (97 km/h) for the rest of its route.[4]
East Moline to Rock Falls
[edit]Starting at I-80 at a cloverleaf interchange, IL 5 ends there while IL 92 continues eastward. I-88 begins at that interchange and then traverses eastward. Immediately east of the cloverleaf, I-88, IL 92, and IL 110 meet a road at a diamond interchange. This road used to be part of IL 2 and IL 92. They then traverse eastward until IL 92 branches off east near Joslin. The freeway then meets the next two local roads, each having a diamond interchange. One of the interchanges serves Hillsdale while the other one serves Erie. The two routes then meet IL 78 near Lyndon. Near Como, they then meet US 30 at a trumpet interchange. South of Rock Falls, they then meet IL 40 at a diamond interchange. East of Yeoward Addition, they again meet U.S. Route 30 (US 30) at a diamond interchange.[4]
Rock Falls to Aurora
[edit]After US 30, I-88/IL 110 becomes an ISTHA-maintained tollway. However, at the IL 26 interchange, there are no tolls present on each ramp. Beyond that, the tollway crosses under US 52 without direct access. Then, the tollway crosses through its first mainline toll plaza. Further east, they meet IL 251 (at a diamond interchange) and I-39/US 51 (at a cloverleaf interchange) at Rochelle. From then on, they meet another mainline toll plaza. In DeKalb, they meet Annie Glidden Road at a trumpet interchange, then cross over IL 23 without direct access, serve DeKalb Oasis, and meet Peace Road at a four-ramp parclo. South of Nottingham Woods, they meet IL 47 at a five-ramp parclo with two ramps. Further east, IL 56 enters eastward on the tollway. They then meet Orchard Road at a four-ramp parclo. Then, IL 56 leaves the freeway at the IL 31 interchange.[4]
Aurora to Hillside
[edit]
Across the Fox River, I-88/IL 110 meets another toll plaza. Then, the tollway meets Farnsworth Avenue at a six-ramp parclo near the Chicago Premium Outlets, Eola Road, IL 59 at a diverging diamond interchange, Winfield Road at a diamond interchange, Naperville Road at a mix of partial interchanges, and IL 53 at an incomplete parclo. Beyond that, they meet I-355 at a mix of interchanges. At Highland Avenue interchange, all but the westbound onramp are present. The other one enters I-88 westbound from Downers Drive. After that, the eastbound tollway meets another mainline toll plaza. After that, I-88 and IL 110 then meet Midwest Road at a two-ramp incomplete parclo (no westbound on/offramp), then IL 83 at a three-ramp incomplete parclo, 22nd Street at a right-in/right-out (no eastbound on/offramp), another mainline toll plaza for westbound traffic, and I-294/IL 38. Beyond I-294/IL 38, the tollway briefly becomes a free road before I-88 ends at I-290. At that point, IL 110 continues east via I-290 all the way toward the Jane Byrne Interchange near downtown Chicago.[4]
History
[edit]Original section
[edit]
Opened November 21, 1958, the East–West Tollway was initially designated as part of U.S. Route 30 Toll (US 30 Toll). The original routing ran from the I-294 interchange near Hillside to US 30/IL 47 near Sugar Grove. IL 56 (previously IL 55 west of Oak Brook) ran along the East-West Tollway between North Aurora and Sugar Grove.[5] In 1966, with the removal of US 30 Toll, Illinois Route 190 was assigned to the tollway.[6][7][8]
Extensions
[edit]
IL 190 was renumbered as IL 5 in 1971, as construction on the 69-mile-long tollway extension to Rock Falls began that year.[9] Consequently, IL 190 was removed from the stretch between Aurora and Sugar Grove, making that section strictly IL 56.[10][11] The extension opened in stages in 1974. The extension to DeKalb, Rochelle, and Rock Falls opened on August 15, September 29, and November 15, respectively.[9] Although a federal law, 23 U.S.C. § 111, prohibits the operation of commercial rest areas constructed after January 1, 1960, on Interstate Highways, the DeKalb oasis was constructed at milepost 93 in 1975, prior to the route's designation as I-88, and remains in operation.
Beyond US 30 east of Rock Falls, further freeway extensions are not subject to tolls. The extension to US 30 near Como serves as a bypass of Rock Falls.[12] Starting from Como, there was a plan to build two federal-aid primary (FAP) freeways connecting to the following cities: FAP 402 to Clinton, Iowa, and FAP 403 to East Moline.[13] Ultimately, only FAP 403 was being built. By 1979, the entirety of FAP 403 opened, extending the IL 5 designation over the completed freeway and supplanting IL 2 west of Sterling.[14][15]
Redesignation to Interstate 88
[edit]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, the NMSL was amended in 1987 to permit 65-mile-per-hour (105 km/h) speed limits on rural stretches of Interstate Highways only.
Even though IL 5 was fully up to Interstate Highway standards, it still had to carry a 55-mile-per-hour (89 km/h) limit because of this wording in the 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 redesignate IL 5 as an Interstate, and, in 1987, AASHTO approved the request and assigned the I-88 numbering to the freeway portion of IL 5.[1][16] The NMSL would be completely repealed only eight years later in 1995, but the I-88 shields remain to this day.
Later history
[edit]After the death of Illinois native and former President Ronald Reagan in 2004, ISTHA voted to rename the toll roadway "Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway" in his memory, as it passes near his birthplace of Tampico and grazes the south outskirts of his boyhood hometown of Dixon. The tollway portion of I-88 was previously known as the "East–West Tollway" and is still displayed as such on some signs near Chicago.
From 2005 lasting through 2012, ISTHA reconstructed and widened much of the original portion of I-88, between York Road and IL 56. Approximately $991.6 million (equivalent to $1.3 billion in 2023[17]) was budgeted for I-88 over that period.[18] Between 2005 and 2009, I-88 was reconstructed and widened to four lanes in each direction between IL 59 and York Road, with work progressing gradually from west to east. The project included a reconstruction and reconfiguration of the Naperville Road interchange.[19] Between IL 56 and the Aurora Toll Plaza, I-88 was reconstructed and widened to three lanes in each direction, including the reconstruction of the IL 31 interchange and new bridges over the Fox River.[20][21]
Exit list
[edit]County | Location | mi | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rock Island | Hampton Township | 0.00 | 0.00 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Continuation beyond western terminus; western end of IL 92 concurrency | |
East Moline | 1 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Signed as exits 1A (east) and 1B (west); western end of IL 110 concurrency; I-80 exit 4B | |||
0.75 | 1.21 | 2 | Old IL 2 | |||
Joslin | 5.69 | 9.16 | 6 | ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of IL 92 concurrency | |
Hillsdale | 10.26 | 16.51 | 10 | Hillsdale, Port Byron | ||
Whiteside | Erie | 18.44 | 29.68 | 18 | Erie, Albany | To IL 84 |
Lyndon | 25.70 | 41.36 | 26 | ![]() | Former IL 2 | |
Rock Falls | 36.16 | 58.19 | 36 | ![]() ![]() | ||
41.11 | 66.16 | 41 | ![]() | |||
43.98 | 70.78 | 44 | ![]() | Eastern end of Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway; western end of Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway | ||
Lee | Dixon | 54.12 | 87.10 | 54 | ![]() | |
56.15 | 90.36 | Dixon Toll Plaza 69 | ||||
Ogle | Rochelle | 75.87 | 122.10 | 76 | ![]() | |
78.33 | 126.06 | 78 | ![]() ![]() | Signed as exits 78A (south) and 78B (north); I-39 exit 97 | ||
DeKalb | DeKalb | 86.25 | 138.81 | DeKalb Toll Plaza 66 | ||
91.12 | 146.64 | 91 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Toll on westbound exit and eastbound entrance ramps | ||
93.25 | 150.07 | DeKalb Oasis | ||||
93.73 | 150.84 | 94 | ![]() ![]() | Toll on westbound exit and eastbound entrance ramps | ||
Kane | Sugar Grove | 108.97 | 175.37 | 109 | ![]() | Toll on westbound exit and eastbound entrance ramps |
Aurora | 113.00 | 181.86 | 113 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Western end of IL 56 concurrency; westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |
114.06 | 183.56 | 114 | ![]() | Was exit 115; toll on eastbound exit and westbound entrance ramps | ||
North Aurora | 116.52 | 187.52 | 117 | ![]() ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of IL 56 concurrency; toll on eastbound exit and westbound entrance ramps | |
Aurora | 117.48 | 189.07 | Aurora Toll Plaza 61 | |||
118.88 | 191.32 | 119 | Farnsworth Avenue | Signed as exits 119A (south) and 119B (north) westbound; toll on westbound exit and eastbound entrance ramps | ||
DuPage | 120.67– 120.86 | 194.20– 194.51 | 121 | ![]() ![]() | Toll on westbound exit and eastbound entrance ramps | |
Naperville | 122.93 | 197.84 | 123 | ![]() | Diverging diamond interchange as of October 2015 | |
Warrenville | 124.81 | 200.86 | 125 | ![]() | Toll on eastbound exit and westbound entrance ramps | |
Naperville | 127.01– 127.30 | 204.40– 204.87 | 127 | ![]() ![]() | Toll on eastbound exit and westbound entrance ramps | |
Lisle | 129.63 | 208.62 | 130 | ![]() | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |
Downers Grove | 130.94– 132.82 | 210.73– 213.75 | 131 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Signed as exits 131A (south) and 131B (north) westbound; signed as exits 131 (south) and 132 (north) eastbound; I-355 exit 20 | |
133.88 | 215.46 | 134 | ![]() | Toll on eastbound exit and westbound entrance ramps; westbound entrance via Downers Drive | ||
Oak Brook | 134.62 | 216.65 | Meyers Road Toll Plaza 52 (eastbound) | |||
136.02 | 218.90 | 136 | ![]() | Toll on eastbound exit and entrance; toll on entrance ramp | ||
136.77 | 220.11 | 137 | ![]() ![]() | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; toll on eastbound entrance ramp | ||
137.29 | 220.95 | 138 | ![]() ![]() ![]() | Westbound entrance and exit; toll on entrance ramp | ||
137.73 | 221.65 | York Road Toll Plaza 53 (westbound) | ||||
138.27 | 222.52 | 138 | ![]() ![]() ![]() To York Road | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; exit includes direct exit ramp onto York Road; York Road exit signed as exit 138 eastbound; I-294 exit 29 | ||
Cook | Hillside | 139.64 | 224.73 | 139 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; I-294 exit 31A |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |||||
140.15– 140.38 | 225.55– 225.92 | 140 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Eastbound exit only; all trucks must exit onto a local lane | ||
– | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Eastern terminus; eastern end of Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway; eastern end of IL 110 concurrency; I-290 exit 15A | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
[edit]- ^ a b Mehler, Neil H. (July 6, 1987). "Road with Many Names Gets a New One". Chicago Tribune (National ed.). p. C3. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
- ^ Starks, Edward (January 27, 2022). "Table 1: Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". FHWA Route Log and Finder List. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
- ^ Illinois Technology Transfer Center (2006). "T2 GIS Data". Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
- ^ a b c d "Overview map of I-88" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
- ^ Illinois Division of Highways; H.M. Gousha (1959). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:790,00]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways – via Illinois Digital Archives.
- ^ U.S. Route Numbering Subcommittee (July 5, 1966). "U.S. Route Numbering Subcommittee Agenda Showing Action Taken by Executive Committee" (PDF) (Report). Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway Officials – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ Illinois Division of Highways; Rand McNally (1965). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:757,500]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways – via Illinois Digital Archives.
- ^ Illinois Division of Highways; Rand McNally (1966). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:772,500]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways – via Illinois Digital Archives.
- ^ a b "Illinois Tollways Through the Years". Chicago Tribune. May 7, 1996. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
- ^ Illinois Division of Highways; Rand McNally (1971). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:772,500]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways – via Illinois Digital Archives.
- ^ Illinois Department of Transportation (1972). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:772,500]. Springfield: Illinois Department of Transportation – via Illinois Digital Archives.
- ^ Illinois Department of Transportation (1975). Illinois Highway Map (Map). [1:772,500]. Springfield: Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
- ^ "Illinois Supplemental Freeway System" (PDF). Retrieved November 22, 2020.
- ^ Illinois Department of Transportation (1977). Illinois Highway Map (Map). [1:772,500]. Springfield: Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
- ^ Illinois Department of Transportation (1979). Illinois Highway Map (Map). [1:772,500]. Springfield: Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
- ^ Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering (May 25, 1987). "Route Numbering Committee Agenda" (PDF) (Report). Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
- ^ Staff (September 2007). "Executive Summary" (PDF). Congestion-Relief Program Summary (Report). Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. pp. 3–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- ^ Staff (May 5, 2009). "Washington Street to Finley Road Rebuild & Widen Project & Naperville Road Interchange" (PDF). Reagan Memorial Tollway. Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
- ^ Staff (December 2, 2009). "Aurora Toll Plaza to Orchard Road Rebuild & Widen Project" (PDF). Reagan Memorial Tollway. Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
- ^ "I-88 Rebuild and Widen Project" (PDF). Reagan Memorial Tollway. Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
External links
[edit]- Illinois Highway Ends: Interstate 88
- Historic, Current & Average Travel Times For The Ronald Reagan Tollway[usurped]
- Illinois Tollway website
- Interstate Highway System
- Interstate Highways in Illinois
- U.S. Route 30
- Expressways in the Chicago area
- Monuments and memorials to Ronald Reagan
- Transportation in Rock Island County, Illinois
- Transportation in Whiteside County, Illinois
- Transportation in Lee County, Illinois
- Transportation in Ogle County, Illinois
- Transportation in DeKalb County, Illinois
- Transportation in Kane County, Illinois
- Transportation in DuPage County, Illinois
- Transportation in Cook County, Illinois