Interstate 294 - History

History

The portion of the Borman Expressway that was completed from Gary westward and the Kingery Expressway were originally designated as I-80, 90, and 294 from shortly after the Interstate Highway program was enacted until about 1965, when the connection between the Borman and the Indiana Toll Road was completed, and I-90 was swapped with I-94 west of that junction (and east of where those routes share the same road in Chicago), cutting back I-294 to its current south terminus (eliminating the Indiana part of I-294). Indiana later proposed to extend Interstate 294 east on the current Borman Expressway to Indiana State Route 912, before having it turn north at that point, west at U.S. Highway 12, and then back to I-94, most likely somewhere on the Bishop Ford Expressway near 130th Street. The request was denied.

From 1991-1993, the 23 mile portion of Interstate 294 between Interstate 90 and U.S. Route 12/U.S. Route 20 (95th Street) was reconstructed and expanded from 6 to 8 lanes in each direction. In 2006, reconstruction to widen the Southern portion of the tollway, where I-80 and I-294 are multiplexed, was completed in conjunction with simultaneous projects on the Borman and Kingery Expressways, expanding this portion of the tollway from 6 to 8 lanes. By late 2009, additional reconstruction projects on the remainder of the tollway were completed, bringing the entire length of Interstate 294 to 8 lanes wide (4 lanes each direction).

Interstate 294 was built largely before the growth and maturation of the suburbs that run along Interstate 294. As a result, the vast majority of the interchanges are partial, or were configured to have entrance ramps feeding the toll plazas. "Gaps" between exit ramps are common, the 9.5 mile (15.3 kilometer) gap between Cicero Avenue (Illinois 50/83) and 95th Street (U.S. 12/20) being one of the more notable ones. Partial interchanges are located at Roosevelt Road (Illinois Route 38) (northbound exit, southbound entrance), Irving Park Road (Illinois 19) (southbound exit, northbound entrance), Touhy Avenue (northbound exit, southbound entrance), Dempster Street (U.S. 14) (northbound exit, southbound entrance), and Golf Road (Illinois 58) (southbound exit, northbound entrance). Several former partial interchanges have been converted to full interchanges, with automated toll collection facilities on the new ramps, such as at 159th Street (U.S. 6) (northbound on and southbound off added), and 95th Street (U.S. 12/20) (southbound on and northbound off added). The 79th Street exit was moved to 75th Street/Willow Springs Road, and made a complete interchange in the same manner.