Interstate 88 (Illinois)

This article is about the Interstate Highway in Illinois. For the Interstate Highway in New York, see Interstate 88 (New York).

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.

Interstate 88
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
Major junctions
West end	I-80 / IL 5 / IL 92 / IL 110 (CKC) near East Moline
Major intersections	US 30 in Rock Falls I-39 / US 51 in Rochelle I-355 Toll in Downers Grove I-294 Toll in Hillside
East end	I-290 / I-294 Toll / IL 110 (CKC) in Hillside
Location
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Counties	Rock Island, Whiteside, Lee, Ogle, DeKalb, Kane, DuPage, Cook
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Illinois State Highway System Interstate US State Tollways
← IL 84 → IL 89

Route description

I-88 runs concurrently with Illinois Route 110 (IL 100) and its speed limit is 70 mph (110 km/h) west of IL 47.^[4]

East Moline to Yeoward Addition

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 US Route 30 (US 30) at a diamond interchange.^[4]

Yeoward Addition to Aurora

At this point, a freeway becomes a tollway for the rest of I-88. 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 two routes meet their first mainline toll plaza. Further east, they then 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 then meet Annie Glidden Road at a trumpet interchange, then crossing over IL 23 without direct access meeting an oasis (a rest area) and Peace Road at a four-ramp parclo. South of Nottingham Woods, they meet IL 47 at a five-ramp parclo with two ramps requiring I-Pass. Further east, they then meet IL 56 at a partial interchange. At this point, IL 56 follows the two routes. 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

Across the Fox River, I-88 and IL 110 meet another toll plaza. Then, they meet Farnsworth Avenue at a six-ramp parclo near the Chicago Premium Outlets. From then on, they meet Eola Road indirectly, 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, they meet 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, I-88 briefly leaves the tollway before ending at I-290. At that point, IL 110 continues eastward via I-290.^[4]

History

 

Western terminus of I-88 at the interchange with I-80 in East Moline

Prior to its designation as an Interstate Highway, the route was known as IL 5 and, before that, IL 190.

In 1975, IL 5 was extended westward to Rock Falls. Back then, only a small portion south of Rock Falls was free.^[5] At that point, there were two proposed freeways connecting each individual cities, FAP 402 (a proposed freeway to Clinton, Iowa) and FAP 403 (another proposed freeway to East Moline). However, only FAP 403 was being built.^[6][7] By 1979, IL 5 finished completing the FAP 403 freeway.^[8]

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 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 highway.^[1] The NMSL would be completely repealed only eight years later in 1995, but the I-88 shields remain to this day, even though Chicago–Kansas City Expressway (IL 110) markers are being posted throughout the entire length of I-88, since it is now part of the Chicago to Kansas City Expressway project, bannered with special "CKC" logos.

Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway

 

Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway in Naperville, heading east

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 US Route 30 Toll (US 30 Toll), and later IL 190. The original routing extended from the I-294 interchange near Hillside to IL 47 near Sugar Grove. IL 56 was overlapped on the East-West Tollway between North Aurora and Sugar Grove in 1965.

 

Map of the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway, the tolled portion of I-88

When the East-West Tollway was extended to Dixon in the 1970s, the IL 190 numbering was removed from the stretch between Aurora and Sugar Grove, making that section strictly IL 56. Once complete, the new routing of the combined tollway and freeway between I-80 near the Quad Cities and I-294 became designated as IL 5. In the late 1980s, it was renumbered I-88.

Officially, the tollway portion begins in Rock Falls, starting at the intersection with US 30 at milemarker 44, although the first toll plaza does not appear until after the IL 26 interchange in Dixon, making the section between US 30 and IL 26 technically a freeway. It continues as a tollway until its terminus in Hillside, although there is a free section between exit 76 (IL 251) and exit 78 (I-39). West of US 30 to I-80, I-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, 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.

There is no direct off-ramp access to US 52, IL 23, IL 25, and IL 83 (northbound). In addition, I-88 merges with IL 56 for a short distance.

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.

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 $1.17 billion in 2021^[9]) was budgeted for I-88 over that period.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12][13]

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Rock Island	Hampton Township	0.00	0.00		IL 5 west / IL 92 west – Moline, Rock Island	Continuation beyond western terminus; western end of IL 92 concurrency
	East Moline			1A-B	I-80 / IL 110 (CKC) south to I-74 – Des Moines, Peoria	Signed as exits 1A (east) and 1B (west); western end of IL 110 concurrency; I-80 exit 4B
		0.75	1.21	1C	Old IL 2
	Joslin	5.69	9.16	6	IL 92 east – Joslin	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	IL 78 – Morrison, Prophetstown	Former IL 2
	Rock Falls	36.16	58.19	36	To US 30 – Clinton, Rock Falls, Sterling
		41.11	66.16	41	IL 40 – Rock Falls, Sterling
		43.98	70.78	44	US 30 – Joliet, Rock Falls	Eastern end of Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway; western end of Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway
Lee	Dixon	54.12	87.10	54	IL 26 – Dixon
		56.15	90.36	Dixon Toll Plaza 69
Ogle	Rochelle	75.87	122.10	76	IL 251 – Rochelle, Mendota
		78.33	126.06	78	I-39 / US 51 – Bloomington, Normal, Rockford	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	Annie Glidden Road to IL 38 / IL 23 – DeKalb	Toll on westbound exit and eastbound entrance ramps
		93.25	150.07	DeKalb Oasis
		93.73	150.84	94	Peace Road to IL 38	Toll on westbound exit and eastbound entrance ramps
Kane	Sugar Grove	108.97	175.37	109	IL 47	Toll on westbound exit and eastbound entrance ramps
	Aurora	113.00	181.86	113	IL 56 west to US 30 – Sugar Grove	Western end of IL 56 concurrency; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		114.06	183.56	114	CR 83 (Orchard Road)	Was exit 115; toll on eastbound exit and westbound entrance ramps
	North Aurora	116.52	187.52	117	IL 31 / IL 56 east	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	To CR 14 (Eola Road)	Toll on westbound exit and eastbound entrance ramps
	Naperville	122.93	197.84	123	IL 59	Diverging diamond interchange as of October 2015
	Warrenville	124.81	200.86	125	CR 13 (Winfield Road)	Toll on eastbound exit and westbound entrance ramps
	Naperville	127.01– 127.30	204.40– 204.87	127	To CR 23 (Naperville Road)	Toll on eastbound exit and westbound entrance ramps
	Lisle	129.63	208.62	130	IL 53 (Lincoln Avenue)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Downers Grove	130.94– 132.82	210.73– 213.75	131	I-355 Toll (Veterans Memorial Tollway) to US 34 (Ogden Avenue) – Joliet, Northwest Suburbs	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	CR 9 (Highland Avenue)	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	CR 15 (Midwest Road)	Toll on eastbound exit and entrance; toll on entrance ramp
		136.77	220.11	137	IL 83 south (Kingery Highway)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; toll on eastbound entrance ramp
		137.29	220.95	138	22nd Street (Cermak Road) to IL 83 north (Kingery Highway)	Westbound entrance and exit; toll on entrance ramp
		137.73	221.65	York Road Toll Plaza 53 (westbound)
		138.27	222.52	138	I-294 Toll south (Tri-State Tollway) to York Road – Indiana	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	I-294 Toll north (Tri-State Tollway) – Milwaukee, O'Hare     I-290 west – Rockford	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; I-294 exit 31A
				—	I-294 Toll south (Tri-State Tollway) – Indiana     IL 38 west (Roosevelt Road)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		140.15– 140.38	225.55– 225.92	—	I-290 east (Eisenhower Expressway) to US 12 / US 20 / US 45 (Mannheim Road) – Chicago	Eastbound exit only; all trucks must exit onto a local lane
					I-290 east / IL 110 (CKC) east (Eisenhower Expressway) – Chicago	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       Concurrency terminus       Electronic toll collection       Incomplete access       Route transition

References

1. Mehler, Neil H. (July 6, 1987). "Road with Many Names Gets a New One". Chicago Tribune (National ed.). p. C3. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
2. 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.
3. Illinois Technology Transfer Center (2006). "T2 GIS Data". Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
4. Google (November 18, 2020). "Overview map of I-88" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
5. 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.
6. "Illinois Supplemental Freeway System" (PDF). Retrieved November 22, 2020.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved January 1, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the Measuring Worth series.
10. Staff (September 2007). (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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. "I-88 Rebuild and Widen Project" (PDF). Reagan Memorial Tollway. Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Retrieved September 20, 2014.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 88 (Illinois).

Route map:

Template:Attached KML/Interstate 88 (Illinois)

KML is from Wikidata

• Historic, Current & Average Travel Times For The Ronald Reagan Tollway
• Illinois Tollway website