U.S. Route 67 in Illinois

U.S. Route 67
Route information
Maintained by IDOT
Length:	213.99 mi[1] (344.38 km)
Existed:	1918 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 67 in Alton
	US 36 / I-72 in Jacksonville US 24 in Rushville US 136 / IL 110 (CKC) in Macomb US 34 / IL 110 (CKC) / IL 164 in Monmouth
North end:	US 67 in Rock Island
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced Illinois State Highway System Interstate U.S. State Tollways ← IL 66 IL 67 →

In the U.S. state of Illinois, U.S. Route 67 is a north–south highway through the western portions of the state. It runs from the Clark Bridge in Alton north to the Rock Island Centennial Bridge in Rock Island. This is a distance of 213.99 miles (344.38 km).^[1]

U.S. 67 is the major north–south corridor for western Illinois, and the only major Illinois north–south highway route from 1918 that was never upgraded to the Interstate highway system.

Route description

US 67 enters Illinois from Iowa by way of the Centennial Bridge that cross the Mississippi River. It is mostly two-lane highway from Rock Island to Monmouth where 67 intersects US 34. From Monmouth, US 67 is interplexed with US 34 until US 34 exits to run west toward Burlington, Iowa. From Monmouth to Macomb, US 67 is a "Super Four" 65 mph (105 km/h), four-lane highway. The Roseville Bypass was one of the last bypasses for this section and was completed in 2002. There is a section at Good Hope where the highway runs through town with signals and an at-grade rail crossing. In Macomb, US 67 runs through town as a four-lane arterial road which has an at-grade railroad crossing and several signals. Exiting Macomb, US 67 is a two-lane highway until it reaches just west of Chapin. From west of Chapin to just north of Roodhouse, US 67 is a "Super Four" 65 mph (105 km/h), four-lane highway. Immediately around Jacksonville US 67 is limited access. The limited access section runs for approximately 7 mi (11 km). From where the four-lane highway ends north of Roodhouse to 7 mi (11 km) south of Jerseyville US 67 is a two-lane highway. South of Jerseyville, US 67 is a four-lane highway until which exits to run south at the beginning of Illinois Route 255. US 67 is then an urban roadway until it exits Illinois by way of the Clark Bridge across the Mississippi River.

US 67 heading south of US 136 in McDonough County

History

In 1918, the Illinois State Legislature established State Bond Issue (SBI) for the establishment of a state road system. The route for Illinois 3 went from Cairo Junction to Morrison via Rock Island.

With the completion of highway bridges over the Mississippi River, Route 67 was extended from St. Louis to Godfrey and replaced the original Illinois 3 to Rock Island.

The original northern terminus of US 67 was in Missouri under the US highway enumeration scheme of 1926, likely due to limited bridge crossings over the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. By 1932, with a Mississippi River crossing route determined, US 67 was extended north along Illinois Route 3 to Rock Island.

Even though the Old Clark Bridge had been opened to traffic across the Mississippi River at Alton in 1928, US 67 originally crossed the Mississippi River with U.S. Route 66 via the McKinley Bridge from St. Louis to Venice. From Venice, US 67 headed north along what had been Illinois 3 via Alton to Rock Island. The original route of IL 3 from Alton to Jacksonville that became US 67 went through East Newbern, Jerseyville, and Carrollton.

In 1926, the northern terminus of U.S. Route 67 was at Alt. US 61 near Fredericktown, Missouri. The route was extended north on Illinois Route 3 (through western Illinois) to its northern terminus in Rock Island, Illinois by 1932. Sometime after 1940, US 67 was routed into Madison County. Then, it was co-signed with Route 66 as both routes went across the McKinley Bridge.

By the mid-1940s, US 67 had been rerouted from St. Louis to Alton via the Lewis Bridge over the Missouri River and the Clark Bridge (formerly the Old Clark Bridge) over the Mississippi River. The Alton to Jerseyville section now passed through Godfrey and Delhi. By the mid-1950s, a more direct route for US 67 from Godfrey towards Jacksonville via Greenfield had opened. Heading north from downtown Alton, US 67 was rerouted via an abandoned railroad grade to the north end of town.

Between Fort Bellefontaine, Missouri (near Lewis Bridge) and south of St. Louis, US-67 followed two different routes. Route 67 originally followed Lewis and Clark Blvd. south to St. Louis, while Alternate US-67 turned west on Lindbergh Blvd. through Florissant past Lambert/St. Louis Int'l airport. Alt 67 was reposted as Route 267 along Lindbergh Blvd. In the late 1960s these routes were "flipped" with US-67 proceeding through Florissant and Hazelwood.

In 1962 another reroute took place, due to the completion of a new river bridge over the Illinois River at Beardstown. A new direct route was constructed from this bridge at Beardstown to Rushville, eliminating the earlier US-67 eastern route northeast along current IL-100 to Frederick then turning north to Rushville. A western bypass of downtown Rushville was completed a couple of years later.

In 1964, Route 3 replaced US 67A as St. Louis started to eliminate highways such as 67A. A new four-lane Route 3 opened a few years later.

In 1968, US-67 was rerouted on a more western route between Jacksonville and Beardstown. The route was the existing IL-104 (Jacksonville to near Merodosia) and IL-100 (near Merodosia to Beardstown). The original US-67 road passed through Virginia on what is now IL-78 (Jacksonville to Virginia) and then on IL-125 (Virginia to Beardstown), which follows the historic Beardstown Post Road and Ohio & Mississippi Railroad right-of-way (later part of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) system before abandonment) between Beardstown and Springfield.

Before 1994, US 67 passed through Alton on Belle Street. After 1994, US 67 got a new bridge as well as a new route through Alton. In the summer of 1994, parts of the road were demolished in a span of 8–10 weeks. Today,the road now runs from Godfrey to Jerseyville to Jacksonville using what used to be IL 267. The old IL 67 that ran through Brighton, IL to Jacksonville is now IL 267.

Proposed Freeway (FAP 413)

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a major supplemental freeway system plan was proposed, with the goal of providing Illinois residents access to freeways within 30 minutes or less. One of the proposed routes, FAP 413, was a route that would have extended from the Quad Cities to Interstate 270 in the East St. Louis area, largely along the current U.S 67 alignment.^[2] However, the vast majority of the freeway was never built, due to lack of funding.

Future

While most of the above-mentioned freeway was never built, some portions were. The very southern portion between I-270 and Alton, signed as Illinois Route 255, was completed in 2010. A small bypass to the west of Jacksonville was constructed in the late 1990s. A freeway bypass around Jerseyville is proposed.

The rest of the original FAP 413 corridor is under study for construction as an expressway.^[3]

Illinois Route 336 Extension from Macomb to Peoria will upgrade Route 336 to Interstate Standards from I-172 to I-474. Portion from US-136 to US-67 is Under Construction and from US-67 to I-474 is Under Study.

Alternate routes

Alternate U.S. Route 67

There were two Alt US 67's in Madison County. The first started south of Alton, the second, north. When US 67 was switched to the Clark Bridge sometime before the mid-1940s, the earlier route of US 67 from St. Louis to Alton became Alt US 67. In the mid-1940s, Alt US 67 was switched from the McKinley Bridge to the MacArthur Bridge. By 1965, the Alt US 67 designation had been dropped and the IL 3 designation had returned to this route. The original IL 3 roadway had been replaced by new alignments in places over the years, however. When US 67 was shifted to a more direct route north of Alton between Godfrey and Jacksonville by the mid-1950s, the old route via Jerseyville and Carrollton became Alt US 67. This designation lasted until around 1965 when the route became IL 267.

Illinois Route 267

Illinois Route 267 was once Alt US 67 from the mid-1950s to 1965 as it went from Godfrey through Jerseyville on its way to meet up with US 67 about ten miles (16 km) south of Jacksonville. This route, despite being one of the most dangerous in central Illinois, has remained unchanged over the years.

In 2001, IDOT rerouted US-67 back onto the original (1940) routing (western route) north of Alton to Murrayville and IL-267 was put onto the newer alignment (eastern route) from near Murrayville through Greenfield to Medora. South of Medora to Godfrey the road retained only IL-111, a second number on this section. The rerouting was to accommodate a future "Corridor 67" expressway that will be built within the next decade or so. IDOT construction began in 2004 near Jacksonville. The new expressway is supposed to follow the corridor through White Hall, Carrollton, and Jerseyville and will end in Godfrey.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
St. Charles				US 67 south – St. Louis	Continuation into Missouri
Mississippi River		line		Clark Bridge
Madison	Alton			IL 143 south / Great River Road south (Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Route) to IL 140 – Wood River	South end of Great River Road overlap
				IL 100 north / Great River Road north (Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Route)	North end of Great River Road overlap
	Godfrey			IL 111 south to IL 3 – Bethalto	South end of IL 111 overlap
				IL 111 north / IL 267 north to IL 255	North end of IL 111 overlap
				IL 255 south to I-270 – Memphis	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Jersey	Jerseyville			IL 109 south (McClusky Road)
				IL 16 (Carpenter Street)
Greene	Carrollton			IL 108 (Main Street)
	White Hall			IL 106 north
Scott	No major junctions
Morgan				I-72 / US 36 – Springfield, Quincy I-72 Bus. begins	Interchange; south end of I-72 Bus. overlap
	Jacksonville			I-72 Bus. east (Morton Avenue)	Interchange; north end of I-72 Bus. overlap
				IL 78 north / IL 104 east – Jacksonville	Interchange; south end of IL 104 overlap
				Concord–Arenzville Road	Interchange
				IL 100 south	South end of IL 100 overlap
				IL 104 west	North end of IL 104 overlap
Cass	Beardstown			IL 125 east
Illinois River				Beardstown Bridge
Schuyler				IL 100 north / IL 103 west	North end of IL 100 overlap
	Rushville			US 24 (West Clinton Street)
				IL 101 west
McDonough				US 136 east	South end of US 136 overlap
	Macomb			US 136 west / IL 110 (CKC) west to IL 336 – Carthage	North end of US 136 overlap; south end of IL 110 overlap
	Good Hope			IL 9
Warren				US 67 Bus. north
	Roseville			IL 116
				US 67 Bus. south
				US 34 west / South Main Street – Burlington, Monmouth	South end of US 34 overlap
	Monmouth			IL 164 west (Broadway)	South end of IL 164 overlap
				US 34 east / IL 110 (CKC) east / IL 164 east – Galesburg	North end of US 34, IL 110, & IL 164 overlaps
				IL 135 west	South end of IL 135 overlap
Mercer				IL 135 east	North end of IL 135 overlap
	Viola			IL 17 (17th Avenue)
Rock Island	Coyne Center			IL 94 west
	Milan			To I-280 / Airport Road
	Rock Island			IL 5 east (Blackhawk Road)
				To IL 92 (Centennial Expressway, 1st Avenue)
Mississippi River				Rock Island Centennial Bridge
Scott	Davenport			US 67 north	Continuation into Iowa
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

1. Illinois Technology Transfer Center (2006). "T2 GIS Data". Retrieved 2007-11-08.
2. Priority Primary Routes (PDF) (Map). Illinois Department of Transportation. April 12, 1978. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
3. "US 67 Corridor". Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved 14 October 2014.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Media related to U.S. Route 67 in Illinois at Wikimedia Commons