Illinois Route 13

Illinois Route 13
Route information
Maintained by IDOT
Length:	151.54 mi[1] (243.88 km)
Existed:	1918[2] – present
Major junctions
West end:	IL 157 / IL 163 in Centreville
	US 51 in Carbondale I-57 in Marion US 45 / IL 34 in Harrisburg
East end:	KY 56 in Old Shawneetown
Location
Counties:	St. Clair, Washington, Randolph, Perry, Jackson, Williamson, Saline, Gallatin
Highway system
Illinois State Highway System Interstate U.S. State Tollways ← US 12 US 14 →

Illinois Route 13 is a major east–west state route in southern Illinois. Illinois 13 has its western terminus at Centreville at Illinois Route 157 and its eastern terminus at the Kentucky state line and the Ohio River, at Kentucky Route 56. This is a distance of 151.54 miles (243.88 km).^[1]

Route description

Illinois 13 runs southeast from the St. Louis, Missouri area to Carbondale. It is the main highway between these two cities.

Route 13 becomes the main east–west road through Carbondale, running from there to Marion and Harrisburg. Route 13 skirts the northern edge of the Shawnee Hills, and the Shawnee National Forest.

History

The state of Illinois was founded in 1818. One of its first governmental tasks was the construction of primitive dirt roads between the three pioneer villages of Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and Shawneetown. Illinois Route 13 is a distant descendant of most of the Cahokia-Shawneetown route, and has a claim to be one of the oldest state highways in Illinois.

Illinois Route 13 did not take its current physical form, though, until after the enactment of the Good Roads Movement paving program in 1918. The statewide plan standardized the alignment of this road and numbered it Illinois 13.

Except for a few alignment changes, Illinois 13 has remained the same since its inception in 1918. In 1937 it was rerouted around Sparta (now Illinois Route 4 and Illinois Route 154), replacing Illinois Route 152 in the process.

The other reroute took place between 1944 and 1947, when Illinois 13 took over a new highway (then called U.S. Route 460) in and around Belleville. The old route became Alternate Illinois 13. In 1947 it was moved back to Bond Avenue. Later, U.S. 460 would be dropped and replaced with Illinois Route 15.^[2]

Bypassing Harrisburg

In October 2010, the first section of the Bill Franks Bypass^[3] (named in 2011^[4] for the founder of Arclar Coal Company and Franks Dialysis Center) opened on the north side of Harrisburg between Illinois Route 34 and U.S. 45. The remaining section west of Route 34, replacing Route 13's former route along busy Poplar Street, opened in April 2012.^[5]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
St. Clair	Centreville			IL 157 south / IL 163 (Camp Jackson Road) – Cahokia, East St. Louis, St. Louis Downtown Airport	West end of IL 157 overlap
				IL 157 north – Caseyville	roundabout; east end of IL 157 overlap
	Belleville			IL 15 – East St. Louis, Mount Vernon	interchange; no access from IL 13 east to IL 15 west or IL 15 east to IL 13 west
				IL 158 west (Centreville Avenue) to IL 15 – Columbia	roundabout; west end of IL 158 overlap
				IL 159 (South Illinois Street) – Collinsville, Red Bud
				IL 158 east / IL 177 east – Scott AFB	East end of IL 158 overlap
				IL 15 west – East St. Louis	interchange; west end of IL 15 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Freeburg			IL 15 east (Urbanna Drive) – Mount Vernon	East end of IL 15 overlap
				IL 156 west – Hecker
	Marissa			IL 4 north – Mascoutah, St. Libory	West end of IL 4 overlap
Randolph				IL 4 south – Sparta	East end of IL 4 overlap
	Coulterville			IL 153 north to IL 15	West end of IL 153 overlap
				IL 153 south – Eden	East end of IL 153 overlap
Perry	Pinckneyville			IL 154 west – Sparta	West end of IL 154 overlap
				IL 127 north (Main Street) / IL 154 east (Water Street) – Nashville	East end of IL 154 overlap; west end of IL 127 overlap
				IL 152 east – Du Quoin, Pyramid State Park
Jackson				IL 4 north / Truax Traer Road – Ava
	Murphysboro			IL 149 east (Sixth Street) – De Soto	West end of IL 149 overlap
				IL 127 south / IL 149 west / Lincoln Heritage Trail (Southern Branch) (Walnut Street) – Jonesboro, Chester	East end of IL 127 / IL 149 overlap; west end of Lincoln Heritage Trail overlap
	Carbondale			US 51 south (University Avenue) – SIU, Anna
				US 51 north (Illinois Avenue) – Du Quoin
Williamson	Herrin Marion			IL 148 – Herrin, Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge Information
	Marion			I-57 – Mount Vernon, Cairo	I-57 exit 54
				IL 37 (Court Street) / Lincoln Heritage Trail (Southern Branch) – Johnston City, Cairo	east end of Lincoln Heritage Trail overlap
				IL 166 south / Pittsburg Road – Pittsburg, Creal Springs
Saline	Harrisburg			IL 34 north (North Main Street) – Harrisburg-Raleigh Airport, Business District	West end of IL 34 overlap
				US 45 / IL 34 south (Commercial Street)	East end of IL 34 overlap
Gallatin				IL 142 / Lincoln Heritage Trail (Southern Branch) – Eldorado, Equality, Saline County Fish and Wildlife Area, Garden of the Gods	west end of Lincoln Heritage Trail overlap
				IL 1 – Omaha, Cave in Rock, Shawnee National Forest Recreation Areas, Cave in Rock State Park
	Old Shawneetown			Lincoln Heritage Trail (Southern Branch) – Old Shawneetown, Shawneetown Bank State Historic Site	east end of Lincoln Heritage Trail overlap
				KY 56 east – Morganfield	Kentucky state line (Shawneetown Bridge over Ohio River)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Illinois Highway Ends: Illinois Route 13

References

1. Illinois Technology Transfer Center (2007). "T2 GIS Data". Retrieved 2007-11-08.
2. Carlson, Rich. Illinois Highways Page: Routes 1 thru 20. Last updated March 15, 2005. Retrieved April 1, 2006.
3. "New bypass opens in Harrisburg." The Southern Illinoisan, Oct. 19, 2010. Retrieved Sept. 8, 2013.
4. "Bill Franks Bypass dedicated." The Daily Register, Apr. 29, 2011. Retrieved Sept. 8, 2013.
5. "Monday opening planned for bypass." The Daily Register, Apr. 6, 2012. Retrieved Sept. 8, 2013.