U.S. Route 34 in Illinois

U.S. Route 34
Walter Payton Memorial Highway[1]
Route information
Maintained by IDOT
Length:	211.37 mi[2] (340.17 km)
Existed:	1926 – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 34 in Gladstone
	US 67 / IL 110 (CKC) / IL 164 in Monmouth US 150 in Galesburg I-74 / IL 110 (CKC) in Galesburg US 6 / IL 26 in Princeton US 52 in Mendota I-39 / US 51 in Mendota US 30 in Montgomery I-355 in Downers Grove I-294 in Western Springs US 12 / US 20 / US 45 in LaGrange
East end:	IL 43 in Berwyn
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced Illinois State Highway System Interstate U.S. State Tollways ← IL 33 IL 34 → ← IL 27 IL 29 →

In the U.S. state of Illinois, U.S. Route 34 is an east–west highway that runs from the Iowa state line at Gulfport, west of Galesburg, to Illinois Route 43 and Historic U.S. Route 66 at Harlem Avenue in Berwyn. The entire highway in Illinois is named the "Walter Payton Memorial Highway". The highway is 211.37 miles (340.17 km) long within the state.^[2]

The bridge into Iowa over the Mississippi River is called the Great River Bridge.

Between Monmouth and Galesburg, the highway is up to interstate standards with exits at Main Street, Henderson Street, and Seminary Street in Galesburg.

History

The former alignment of US 34 near IL 164 in Warren County

In 1934, US 34 absorbed what had been the last remaining section of US 32.^[3]

US 34 formerly overlapped US 66 all the way to its endpoint in downtown Chicago, but was truncated to its intersection with US 66 and IL 43 in Berwyn in 1970. When US 66 was subsequently eliminated, the endpoint of US 34 was left at that location—the intersection of Ogden and Harlem Avenues in Berwyn. Due to the elimination of US 66, it is one of the few US Numbered Highways that ends at a state highway.^[4] With the re-signing of much of Historic US 66, the history of US 34's eastern endpoint is becoming much more clear.^[5]

Proposals

The now cancelled Prairie Parkway limited access highway would have had an interchange with U.S. Route 34, between Needham Road and Waubonsee Drive in the city of Plano.

A bypass of the town of Biggsville is currently under construction. It will create a diamond interchange between US 34 and IL 94 / IL 116 as well as bypass West Central High School. It is expected to be completed by the fall of 2014.^[6][7]

U.S. Route 34 west of Oneida in the western portion of Illinois with BNSF tracks to the left

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Des Moines	Burlington			US 34 west / Iowa 163 west	Continuation into Iowa
Mississippi River				Great River Bridge
Henderson	Gulfport			Gulfport
				Great River Road south (Carmen Road)	West end of Great River Road overlap
	Gladstone			IL 164 east / Great River Road north	East end of Great River Road overlap
				IL 94 south / IL 116 east	West end of IL 94 overlap
				IL 94 / IL 116 east	Interchange under construction; expected to be completed fall 2014.[7]
	Biggsville			IL 94 north	East end of IL 94 overlap
Warren				US 67 south / IL 110 (CKC) west / 180th Avenue – Macomb	West end of US 67/IL 110 overlap
	Monmouth			IL 164 west (Broadway)	West end of IL 164 overlap
				US 67 north (Main Street)	East end of US 67 overlap
				IL 164 east	East end of IL 164 overlap
				Cameron Road
Knox	Galesburg			IL 41 south / IL 164 west (Main Street)
				US 150 (Henderson Street) – Alpha
				Seminary Street
				I-74 / IL 110 (CKC) east – Moline, Rock Island, Peoria	East end of IL 110 overlap
	Wataga			IL 167 east
Henry				IL 17 west	West end of IL 17 overlap
	Galva			IL 17 east (Center Avenue)	East end of IL 17 overlap
				IL 78 south	West end of IL 78 overlap
				IL 91 east
	Kewanee			IL 78 north	East end of IL 78 overlap
Bureau				US 6 west	West end of US 6 overlap
				IL 40
	Princeton			US 6 east / IL 26 south (Peru Street)	West end of IL 26 overlap; east end of US 6 overlap
				IL 26 north (Main Street)	East end of IL 26 overlap
	La Moille			IL 89 south
				IL 92 west
LaSalle	Mendota			US 52 / IL 251
				I-39 / US 51 – Rockford, LaSalle, Peru
				IL 23 south	West end of IL 23 overlap
				IL 23 north	East end of IL 23 overlap
Kendall	Yorkville			IL 47 (Bridge Street)
	Oswego			IL 31 north
				IL 25 north (Madison Street)
				IL 71 west (Oswego Road)
	Montgomery			US 30 west	West end of US 30 overlap
				US 30 east (Lincoln Highway)	East end of US 30 overlap
DuPage	Aurora, Naperville			IL 59
	Lisle			IL 53 (Lincoln Avenue)
	Lisle, Downers Grove			I-355 (Veterans Memorial Tollway) / I-88 west (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) – Joliet, Aurora, Northwest Suburbs
	Westmont, Hinsdale			IL 83 (Kingery Highway)
Cook	Western Springs			I-294 (Tri-State Tollway) – Wisconsin, Indiana
	La Grange			US 12 / US 20 / US 45 (La Grange Road)
	Lyons			IL 171 (1st Avenue)
	Berwyn			IL 43 / Historic US 66 west (Harlem Avenue)
				Historic US 66 east (Ogden Avenue)	Continuation beyond IL 43
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Unopened

References

Route map: Bing / Google

1. State of Illinois (2000-04-15). "91st General Assembly Summary of HJR0071". Retrieved 2006-11-26.
2. Illinois Technology Transfer Center (2006). "T2 GIS Data". Retrieved 2007-11-08.
3. End of US highway 32. usends.com.
4. End of US highway 34. usends.com.
5. East end of US highway 34 in Berwyn IL. usends.com.
6. "Construction of four-lane section of US-34 approved". WQAD-TV. June 21, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
7. "New Biggsville Bypass Promotes Safety Initiative". KWQC-TV. June 28, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2014.