Does the little stretch of freeway between I-88 and I-294 in Oak Brook, Illinois (just outside of Chicago) have a name or number? It has an exit ramp headed eastbound, so it's not just a set of long ramps.
Quote from: bugo on December 12, 2014, 03:31:18 PM
It has an exit ramp headed eastbound, so it's not just a set of long ramps.
Oh, but it is. (Street view link) (https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8492041,-87.9391088,3a,75y,64.66h,97.42t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbknpaJNk28YRXO7P0D9sjw!2e0)
You'll notice the sign in the distance says "TO York Rd, Next Right." I haven't been on that stretch in a while, so I don't know what ISTHA will do (has done?) with the exit numbers for this ramp, but this is basically a long ramp with another ramp branching off of it.
It's the pair of ramps that complete the incomplete interchange with I-294 further north.
Quote from: bugo on December 12, 2014, 03:31:18 PM
Does the little stretch of freeway between I-88 and I-294 in Oak Brook, Illinois (just outside of Chicago) have a name or number? It has an exit ramp headed eastbound, so it's not just a set of long ramps.
No, there is no number for it. It is considered just a pair of ramps between I-88 and I-294. It is now Exit 138 for I-88 eastbound.
It looks like a short freeway to me. It's longer than some interstates. Where do you draw the line between an exit ramp and a freeway?
Thought I've heard it referred to as "Regan Spur" or something similar before on traffic reports.
Quote from: Revive 755 on December 12, 2014, 05:06:21 PM
Thought I've heard it referred to as "Regan Spur" or something similar before on traffic reports.
I've never heard the term on WBBM.
Quote from: bugo on December 12, 2014, 05:02:08 PM
It looks like a short freeway to me. It's longer than some interstates. Where do you draw the line between an exit ramp and a freeway?
It's not considered a freeway and only has one supplementary exit from Edb I-88 to Sbd I-294 for York Road. Hence why I consider some short freeways as no more than glorified ramps.
We shall call it I-238 east.
I opine it's a freeway, with no name or number. But on OSM I'd still probably tag it as motorway_link rather than motorway.
To me, it's always been "I-88 (formerly IL-5)."
It IS pretty much a very long set of ramps.
I'd have to find some old maps, but what is now the I-88/RR Tollway was once the East-West Toll Road to just west of Aurora. The east end split with the north half connecting with the Eisenhower Expressway and the south half connecting with the Tri-State Tollway. The Eisenhower just stopped at US 20 rather than continued around the west side of O'Hare as I-290. So it was really part of the east end of the EW Tollway. It helped separate the Illinois toll roads from the freeways. It's really not much different from the east terminus of I-270 near DC, only with toll booths.
Quote from: Stratuscaster on December 12, 2014, 11:25:06 PM
To me, it's always been "I-88 (formerly IL-5)."
It IS pretty much a very long set of ramps.
Even ISTHA considers them merely a long set of ramps. There are no mileposts of any kind what-so-ever on them.
It's a long ramp
Like others have said, they're ramps. The Tollway calls them Mary (NB I-294 to WB I-88) and Nora (EB I-88 to SB I-294) ramps. Together, they are sometimes called the Tri-State Connector.
Quote from: pianocello on December 12, 2014, 03:42:16 PM
Quote from: bugo on December 12, 2014, 03:31:18 PM
It has an exit ramp headed eastbound, so it's not just a set of long ramps.
Oh, but it is. (Street view link) (https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8492041,-87.9391088,3a,75y,64.66h,97.42t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbknpaJNk28YRXO7P0D9sjw!2e0)
For a fairly new Clearview sign, that I-294 South sign lost it's yellow pretty darn quick!
It might function as a pair of ramps but it looks like a freeway. If it looks like a fish, smells like a fish, and lives in the water, it's probably a fish.
It's like that short stretch of road that connects I-676 to I-95 in Philadelphia. It might function as a pair of ramps, but it is a continuation of the freeway that I-676 follows.
There's no way to define the line between freeway and ramps. This (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=39.294371,-76.823831&spn=0.01184,0.024784&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=39.294495,-76.823698&panoid=tehLb7tCufJKuhBdmFNxAw&cbp=12,25.68,,0,12.09) looks like a freeway but is just a pair of ramps. This (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=25.772649,-80.198125&spn=0.006927,0.012392&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=25.772746,-80.197892&panoid=j5nV2FGsS1Hc347tzXJOog&cbp=12,84.95,,0,-1.43) looks like a bunch of ramps but has its own number.
You can tell in the winter months that it's just a ramp and nobody pays attention to them.
They are always the last to get plowed and the most treacherous part of my Downers Grove - Homewood commute. The State Police know it though and run speed traps from time to time.
Quote from: Jericho That on December 16, 2014, 08:05:51 AM
Like others have said, they're ramps. The Tollway calls them Mary (NB I-294 to WB I-88) and Nora (EB I-88 to SB I-294) ramps. Together, they are sometimes called the Tri-State Connector.
Where do those names come from?
They are a set of ramps, the only reason they are being misconstrued as a freeway is the fact they are two lanes wide each.
Quote from: PColumbus73 on December 25, 2014, 03:14:00 AM
They are a set of ramps, the only reason they are being misconstrued as a freeway is the fact they are two lanes wide each.
That, and because they're a mile or so long.
I thought they were called "The Elizabeth Borden Memorial Cutoff"
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on December 25, 2014, 03:34:36 AM
Quote from: PColumbus73 on December 25, 2014, 03:14:00 AM
They are a set of ramps, the only reason they are being misconstrued as a freeway is the fact they are two lanes wide each.
That, and because they're a mile or so long.
The ramps from I-295 to I-95 north of Richmond are about a mile long
A mile long would make them longer than I-480, and I-129 in Iowa.
Quote from: Jardine on December 25, 2014, 05:32:31 PM
A mile long would make them longer than I-480, and I-129 in Iowa.
Both routes are at least 2 miles long, that's like comparing I-70 through West Virginia to all of I-97.
Quote from: PColumbus73 on December 25, 2014, 04:38:11 PM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on December 25, 2014, 03:34:36 AM
Quote from: PColumbus73 on December 25, 2014, 03:14:00 AM
They are a set of ramps, the only reason they are being misconstrued as a freeway is the fact they are two lanes wide each.
That, and because they're a mile or so long.
The ramps from I-295 to I-95 north of Richmond are about a mile long
Good point. They get misconstrued as a freeway because they are two lanes wide each, becasue they have their own exit, because they are a mile or so long, and because they veer a fair distance away from the routes that they connect.
Quote from: PColumbus73 on December 25, 2014, 03:14:00 AM
They are a set of ramps, the only reason they are being misconstrued as a freeway is the fact they are two lanes wide each.
There is a stretch of the ramps roughly a mile long where they follow a common alignment. Within that stretch, the cross-section of roadway and grading design across the two ramps is indistinguishable from that of a freeway or expressway mainline. Ordinary ramps don't usually pair up so neatly.
I happened to drive on this "freeway" a couple days ago and noted that, at least in the southbound direction, was signed as I-294, without even a "TO" over it.
I-88 EB TO I-294 SB and I-294 NB to I-88 WB. You're welcome.
Quote from: ajlynch91 on January 22, 2015, 01:24:52 PM
I happened to drive on this "freeway" a couple days ago and noted that, at least in the southbound direction, was signed as I-294, without even a "TO" over it.
Southbound direction? If you're talking about the I-294 shield sign on the side on the ramp from EB I-88 to South I-294, that originally had a TO on the top. Some reason they decided to put South on top of it but never signed the other side along the lines of West I-88. Don't know why that sign is still there to this day.
Same thing on the stub ramp to I-88 from Downers Dr/Butterfield Rd in Downers Grove. Signed as "WEST I-88". I seem to recall there was a "TO" on that a long time ago as well...like at least 2 decades ago.
A set of ramps acting as a freeway with its own number is seen in Warrensville Heights (http://goo.gl/maps/StVjI) and neighboring cities. ODOT numbers it as I-480N (http://goo.gl/maps/KnMhk), which according to the SLD (PDF) (http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Planning/TechServ/TIM/Documents/SLD/pdf_files/cuyir0480n.pdf) is 1.99 miles long. Its own interchange with Miles Road helps bolster its pseudo-promotion.
Postmiles (white ones on bridges and green ones on BGS supports including those on Miles Rd.) and the 2/10 mile markers are the only place 480N is let out. Otherwise it's signed as if it were a long ramp. (It's been a while (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=7217.0) since 480N came up from what I can tell.)
it's just a set of ramps connecting I-88 and I-294 with a ramp to York road