The AARoads Blog

Peoria includes two Interstates, the main route through the city, I-74, and the bypass route, I-474. Lets take a look at the two and more…

Interstate 74 cuts a swath through the downtown area, meandering along a curved path from junction Interstate 474 & Illinois 6 northwest of the city to a brief depressed section of freeway near the central business district. A high-level cantilever bridge carries the freeway across the Illinois River into East Peoria. Once across, the road bisects hills on a southeastern trajectory to Interstate 474, Interstate 155, and Morton.

Interstate 74 descends toward the Perry Avenue under crossing through the eastern outskirts of downtown Peoria. U.S. 24 & Illinois 29 meet the freeway ahead.

Road work recently saw completion on a multi-year project to upgrade Interstate 74 through the Peoria metro area. Begun in 2002 with reconstruction of the North Street and Forrest Hill Bridges, work continued through Fall 2007.

Every bridge over Interstate 74 was reconstructed or replaced and now features ornamental columns. Pictured here is the Forest City Avenue overpass at the Gale Avenue (Exit 90) off-ramp of I-74 east.

Highlights of the near $500 million work included the construction of new ramps at Sterling Avenue, the raising of the Adams Street bridge over Interstate 74, rebuilding of both freeway carriageways, landscaping, and other improvements. Work affected 11 miles of roads, 32 bridges were either removed or replaced, 8 bridges were widened or reconstructed, and two tunnel ramp tunnels were built. Additionally the interchange with the Industrial Spur was reconstructed from a trumpet into a directional interchange near the east end of the Murray Baker Bridge.

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Dubbed the Congestion Relief Project, the Illinois Tollway system, an integral part of Chicagoland’s highway network, is a series of construction projects aimed at modernizing and expanding the multiple-route system in northern Illinois. The overall project was approved in September 2004.

Interstate 355 northbound at Illinois 171.

One of the main aspects of the project was the modernization of the 20 main line toll collecting facilities. Work involved the conversion of the conventional toll booth barriers into a hybrid of high-speed electronic toll collection, called “open road tolling” and newly built attended toll booths for cash and coin based payment. The open road tolling works with I-Pass, a prepaid toll program that works with transponders affixed to car’s windshields that are read by sensors as drivers pass under pass readers at normal freeway speeds. Account holders may bypass the conventional toll booths, which were relocated to outside carriageways, on the tollway mainlines. Additionally I-Pass account holders are charged reduced rates.

Reaching the Des Plaines River Bridge on Interstate 355 north. Monuments are posted at each bridge end with “Veterans Memorial Tollway” inscribed on the columns.

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