Illinois Route 3
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by IDOT | ||||
| Length: | 187.44 mi[1] (301.66 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1918[2] – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: |
  I-57 / US 51 in Cairo | |||
| North end: |
 IL 100 in Grafton | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Alexander, Union, Jackson, Randolph, Monroe, St. Clair, Madison, Jersey | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Illinois Route 3 (IL 3)is a major north–south arterial state highway in southwestern Illinois. It has its southern terminus at Cairo Junction (about four miles (6.4 km) north of Cairo) at the intersection of Interstate 57 (I-57) and U.S. Route 51 (US 51), and its northern terminus in Grafton at IL 100. This is a distance of 187.44 miles (301.66 km).
Route description
IL 3 has four lanes from Waterloo to Godfrey, with a brief six-lane stretch in Granite City around the River's Edge area (formerly the Army Depot of Granite City) and around Alton. It is two-laned the majority of the southern part from Waterloo to Mound City around the Shawnee National Forest Area. It briefly overlaps IL 111 at Alton, I-255 and US 50, and IL 127 north of Cache.
IL 3 parallels the Mississippi River for the entire length of its journey, and it carries the Illinois portion of the Great River Road for most of its length. South of St. Louis, I-55 is its parallel on the west side of the river, along with US 61. The road runs along many historical sites along the Mississippi River, and is the closest Illinois state highway to the old state capitol of Kaskaskia.
History
Original 1918 route
The original IL 3 route went from Cairo Junction in southern Illinois to Morrison in northwest Illinois via Rock Island. With the completion of highway bridges over the Mississippi River (e.g. Clark Bridge at Alton) U.S. Route 67 (US 67) was extended from St. Louis to Godfrey and replaced the original IL 3 to Rock Island. Today, this route is still the major north–south corridor for western Illinois—and the only major Illinois north–south route never upgraded to the Interstate Highway System like I-57, I-55, or I-39.
Current route
On August 4, 1976, the new Berm Highway from Wood River to Alton was opened.[3] It was signed as IL 3, which left the old alignment on Lewis and Clark Boulevard and Broadway unmarked. However, on June 29, 1987, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) built the new Madison Avenue extension in Wood River and marked that road and the Berm Highway as IL 143[4] and truncated IL 3 at IL 143 (highway signage and IDOT planning maps suggested otherwise, however). This new terminus for Route 3 was short-lived, however.
On November 26, 1987, a new section of Homer M. Adams Parkway in Alton opened to traffic, and IL 3 was extended onto Lewis and Clark Boulevard (a former IL 3 alignment) back into Alton and onto the extension. IL 3 was then cosigned with IL 111 until the intersection with Godfrey Road, where IL 3 takes over the former IL 100 alignment.[5]
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi[1][6] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander | Cairo | 0.0 | 0.0 |      US 51 south / IL 37 north / Great River Road (National Route) south / Lincoln Heritage Trail (Southern Branch) south – Cairo, Mounds, National Cemetery | Southern end of US 51/Great River Road/Lincoln Heritage Trail overlap | |
| 0.8 | 1.3 | I-57 / US 51 north – Sikeston, MO, Mount Vernon | Northern end of US 51 overlap; I-57 exit 1 | |||
| 8.5 | 13.7 |  IL 127 north – Jonesboro, Mounds | ||||
| McClure | 26.0 | 41.8 |  IL 146 west – Cape Girardeau | Southern end of IL 146 overlap | ||
| Union | Ware | 37.7 | 60.7 | IL 146 east / Lincoln Heritage Trail (Southern Branch) spur – Jonesboro, Lincoln-Douglas Debate Site | Northern end of IL 146 overlap | |
| Jackson | Grand Tower | 51.3 | 82.6 |   Great River Road Spur north (Grand Tower Road) – River Access, Devils Backbone Park, Business District | ||
| 53.0 | 85.3 | Great River Road Spur south (Power Plant Road) – River Access, Devils Backbone Park | ||||
| 60.6 | 97.5 |  IL 149 east – Murphysboro, Carbondale, Lake Murphysboro State Park | ||||
| 65.0 | 104.6 |  IL 151 north – Lake Kinkaid, Ava, Johnson Creek Recreational Area | ||||
| Randolph | 80.6 | 129.7 | Great River Road (National Route) north (Truck Bypass) – River Bridge | Northern end of Great River Road overlap | ||
| Chester | 83.4 | 134.2 |  IL 150 west (State Street) – River Bridge, Penitentiary | Southern end of IL 150 overlap | ||
| 83.6 | 134.5 | IL 150 east (State Street) – Steeleville | Northern end of IL 150 overlap | |||
| 83.9 | 135.0 | Great River Road Spur Evergreen Cemetery, Governor Bond State Memorial | Southern end of Great River Road spur | |||
| 84.2 | 135.5 | Great River Road south (River Bridge Spur/Truck Bypass) – River Bridge, Penitentiary | Northern end of Great River Road spur overlap; southern end of Great River Road overlap | |||
| 89.8 | 144.5 | Great River Road Spur (Shawneetown Trail) – Fort Kaskaskia Historic Site, Pierre Menard Home, Randolph County Conservation Area | ||||
| Ruma | 103.1 | 165.9 |  IL 155 west / Lincoln Heritage Trail (Southern Branch) north / Great River Road Spur – Prairie du Rocher, Fort de Chartres Historic Site, River Ferry | Northern end of Lincoln Heritage Trail overlap | ||
| Red Bud | 108.6 | 174.8 |   IL 154 east (Market Street) / IL 159 north (Main Street) – Belleville, Sparta | |||
| Monroe | Waterloo | 122.2 | 196.7 |  IL 156 (Park Street) – Fairgrounds, Hartburg, Maeystown, Valmeyer | ||
| Columbia | 129.5 | 208.4 |  IL 158 east – Belleville | Interchange | ||
| 133.1 | 214.2 | Quarry Road/Palmer Road | Interchange; southern end of freeway | |||
| 134.3 | 216.1 | 6 |   I-255 south / US 50 west (J.B. Bridge) – St. Louis County, Memphis, Tulsa | Southern end of I-255/US 50 overlap; IL 3 | ||
| St. Clair | Dupo | 136.5 | 219.7 | 9 | Dupo | |
| 137.4 | 221.1 | 10 | I-255 north / US 50 east – Chicago | Northern end of I-255/US 50 overlap; IL 3 north follows exit 10 | ||
| 139.1 | 223.9 | Stolle Road – Dupo, Martin Boismenue House | Northern end of freeway | |||
| Cahokia | 141.2 | 227.2 |  IL 157 north (Camp Jackson Road) – Nicholas Jarrot Mansion, Holy Family Church | |||
| East St. Louis | 143.7 | 231.3 | Eighth Street | Southern end of freeway | ||
| 144.2 | 232.1 | 1 |     I-55 south / I-64 west / US 40 west to I-70 west – St. Louis | Southern end of I-55/I-64/US 40 overlap | ||
| 144.8 | 233.0 | 13th Street/Tudor Avenue | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |||
| 144.8 | 233.0 | Barack Obama Avenue – East St. Louis Business District | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |||
| 145.7 | 234.5 | 2A | Third Street – Eads Bridge | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 146.0 | 235.0 | 2B–C | M.L. King Bridge – Downtown St. Louis | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 146.2 | 235.3 | 3 | I-55 north / I-70 east / US 40 east / Great River Road north – Chicago, Indianapolis | Northern end of I-55/US 40/Great River Road overlap | ||
| 146.8 | 236.3 | 4 | I-64 east – Louisville | Northern end of I-64 overlap | ||
| Madison | Venice | 151.1 | 243.2 | McKinley Bridge – St. Louis | ||
| Granite City | 158.4 | 254.9 | .svg.png){kind=small} Historic US 66 east (Chain of Rocks Road) | Southern end of Historic US 66 overlap | ||
| 158.6 | 255.2 |  I-270 / Great River Road south / Historic US 66 west – St. Charles, Effingham | Southern end of Great River Road overlap; exit 3 on I-270; northern end of Historic US 66 overlap | |||
| Hartford | 161.6 | 260.1 | Great River Road Spur (New Poag Road) / Meeting of the Great Rivers – Lewis and Clark Historic Site, SIUE Campus | Southern end of Meeting of the Great Rivers overlap | ||
| Wood River | 165.6 | 266.5 |  IL 143 / Great River Road north / Meeting of the Great Rivers north – Alton Riverfront, Alton, Wood River, Business District | Northern end of Great River Road/Meeting of the Great Rivers overlap | ||
| Alton | 169.3 | 272.5 |   IL 111 south / IL 140 (College Avenue) – Bethalto | Interchange; southern end of IL 111 overlap | ||
| Godfrey | 173.0 | 278.4 |  IL 111 north (Godfrey Road) to US 67 / State Street – Clark Bridge, Lewis and Clark Community College, Jacksonville | Northern end of IL 111 overlap | ||
| Jersey | 182.0 | 292.9 |  IL 109 north – Jerseyville | |||
| Grafton | 190.0 | 305.8 | IL 100 / Great River Road / Meeting of the Great Rivers | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- 1 2 Illinois Technology Transfer Center (2007). "T2 GIS Data". Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
- ↑ Carlson, Rick (March 15, 2006). "Routes 1 through 20". Illinois State Highways Page. Retrieved March 24, 2006..
- ↑ Alton Telegraph. August 4, 1976. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Alton Telegraph. June 30, 1987. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Alton Telegraph. November 26, 1987. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Google Maps estimate