Interstate 55 in Illinois - Route Description

Route Description

Interstate 55 within Illinois carries heavy traffic, with an average of more than 20,000 vehicles per day for most of its length. Significant portions of Interstate 55 contain six lanes (3 lanes in each direction) and are heavily used by commuters. I-55 in Illinois begins in East Saint Louis on the Poplar Street Bridge over the Mississippi River at the Missouri-Illinois state line. and runs southwest to northeast through the state, ending in Chicago at US Route 41 Lake Shore Drive. Along the way, it goes through four metropolitan areas in the state: the Illinois portion of the St. Louis metropolitan area, the Springfield metropolitan area, the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area, and the southwestern suburbs of the Chicago metropolitan area (also known as Chicagoland).

I-55 enters Chicago as the Stevenson Expressway, and provides easy access to downtown Chicago via the I-90/I-94 (Dan Ryan Expressway) interchange, and via US 41 Lake Shore Drive at the northern terminus of I-55.

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