Illinois Destination/Mileage Signage I-57 vs I-24

[ilpt4u]

Neither I-57 nor I-24 reach one of its Control Cities directly, as I-57 needs I-55 to reach Memphis and I-24 needs I-57 and I-64 to reach St Louis

IDOT is a bit inconsistent with the Destination/Mileage signage in these similar instances

I-57 in IL consistently updates mileage to Memphis, the length of the state, beginning in South Suburban Chicago

I-24 in IL has 2 mileage signs, one with Mileage to I-57 and another (brown sign) with Mileage to Rend Lake. No mention of St Louis Mileage until reaching I-64 leaving Mt Vernon

Maybe I am overthinking this, but shouldn't this be more consistent? Either I-57 giving Mileage to I-55 in Sikeston in lieu of Memphis or I-24 giving Mileage to St Louis via I-57/I-64?

I also think I-57 North between I-24/Marion and I-64/Mt Vernon should have St Louis mileage on the Destination/Mileage signs, in addition to Chicago, as that leg of I-57 is part of the St Louis to Nashville Interstate Route. On the Southbound side, both Memphis and Nashville should be on the same signs with the Mileage to each on the Mt Vernon to Marion leg

[kphoger]

Neither I-57 nor I-24 reach one of its Control Cities directly, as ... I-24 needs I-57 and I-64 to reach St Louis

Is Saint Louis actually a control city for I-24?  I don't think it is.

I-24 in IL has 2 mileage signs, one with Mileage to I-57 and another (brown sign) with Mileage to Rend Lake. No mention of St Louis Mileage until reaching I-64 leaving Mt Vernon

I'm not in favor of putting Saint Louis on I-24 mileage signs.  Not only does I-24 not go to Saint Louis (forgivable), but neither does I-57! 

I also think I-57 North between I-24/Marion and I-64/Mt Vernon should have St Louis mileage on the Destination/Mileage signs, in addition to Chicago, as that leg of I-57 is part of the St Louis to Nashville Interstate Route. On the Southbound side, both Memphis and Nashville should be on the same signs with the Mileage to each on the Mt Vernon to Marion leg

Again, not a fan.  That would be opening up mileage signs to a whole bunch of nonsense.  It would be like seeing mileage for Saint Louis along I-35 north of Wichita, just because it's part of "the Wichita to Saint Louis Interstate Route".  Nope, nope, nope.

[ilpt4u]

St Louis is on the Mileage signs in Kentucky on I-24 West

I thought it was a signed Control as well, but need to find a picture of it

St Louis is used as a Control at ramps entering I-24 West in Paducah

[wriddle082]

St Louis is on the Mileage signs in Kentucky on I-24 West

I thought it was a signed Control as well, but need to find a picture of it

St Louis is used as a Control at ramps entering I-24 West in Paducah

Years ago, the I-24 west control city leaving Nashville was St. Louis.  It was changed to Clarksville in the late 80's/early 90's timeframe (and in Clarksville it was changed to Paducah), but the mileage signs in TN still list St. Louis at the bottom.

As for I-24 eastbound, IL, KY, and TN consistently have it as Nashville, each ignoring Paducah and Clarksville since IL and KY respectively consider each an insignificant border town.

[Brandon]

St Louis is on the Mileage signs in Kentucky on I-24 West

I thought it was a signed Control as well, but need to find a picture of it

St Louis is used as a Control at ramps entering I-24 West in Paducah

Years ago, the I-24 west control city leaving Nashville was St. Louis.  It was changed to Clarksville in the late 80's/early 90's timeframe (and in Clarksville it was changed to Paducah), but the mileage signs in TN still list St. Louis at the bottom.

As for I-24 eastbound, IL, KY, and TN consistently have it as Nashville, each ignoring Paducah and Clarksville since IL and KY respectively consider each an insignificant border town.

Not 100% accurate.  IDOT uses Paducah as a secondary control city at the interchanges between I-57 and the Ohio River.
Examples:
https://goo.gl/maps/cYzi6yQiVTG2
https://goo.gl/maps/3AUsq4NaCWH2
https://goo.gl/maps/iPZ7FC26yMq

Nashville is the primary control for I-24 eastbound:
https://goo.gl/maps/uLfb1qvCFcS2
https://goo.gl/maps/knFrEsFUYH42

Westbound is a different story.  "Interstate 57" is commonly used (see secondary controls above).
https://goo.gl/maps/r4UZsdv4pTq
St. Louis does not show up on the mileage signage.

[hbelkins]

St Louis is on the Mileage signs in Kentucky on I-24 West

I thought it was a signed Control as well, but need to find a picture of it

St Louis is used as a Control at ramps entering I-24 West in Paducah

Years ago, the I-24 west control city leaving Nashville was St. Louis.  It was changed to Clarksville in the late 80's/early 90's timeframe (and in Clarksville it was changed to Paducah), but the mileage signs in TN still list St. Louis at the bottom.

As for I-24 eastbound, IL, KY, and TN consistently have it as Nashville, each ignoring Paducah and Clarksville since IL and KY respectively consider each an insignificant border town.

Years ago, there was still a sign entering I-24 near the Tennessee line (I think it was the Pembroke/Oak Grove exit) that had St. Louis listed instead of Paducah.

[ilpt4u]

In a way, IDOT does acknowledge that I-24 West has a Control of St Louis, approaching its terminus @ I-57, with a BGS saying "St Louis follow I-57 North" and then after merging into I-57, there is another BGS saying "St Louis, use I-64 West, 51 Miles" or very similar

I still think St Louis should be on the Mileage signs on I-24 West in IL, and on the I-57 North segment between Marion and Mt Vernon

IDOT has a similar sign on the I-57/I-64 Mt Vernon multiplex, heading South/East, approaching the Southern split, advising "To I-24 Nashville Keep Right" which is the I-57 South side of the Split

Could take this up a ridiculous step, and go Wisconsin on it, and cosign I-24 West with I-57 North on the Marion to Mt Vernon segment, a la I-94 and I-41 between Milwaukee and the IL state line, with I-24 ending at the Southern Split of I-57 and I-64 in Mt Vernon

[wriddle082]

Could take this up a ridiculous step, and go Wisconsin on it, and cosign I-24 West with I-57 North on the Marion to Mt Vernon segment, a la I-94 and I-41 between Milwaukee and the IL state line, with I-24 ending at the Southern Split of I-57 and I-64 in Mt Vernon

I think that IDOT is still holding out a glimmer of hope that road money will start growing on trees so they can extend 24 up through Carbondale to end at 255 near Columbia.  Might happen if the State or Chicagoland becomes a thing.

[Captain Jack]

Wasn't one of the original routings for I-24 proposed to tie into I-55 around Cape Girardeau? Had it done that, using St. Louis as a control would have made a little more sense, although I would have went with Cape.

I understand the original concept of I-24 was to link Nashville to St. Louis, however, in its current form, it really doesn't make sense to use St. Louis as a control. Like others have said, you have to take two additional interstates to get to St. Louis.

I would just go with Clarksville, Paducah and Marion heading north from Nashville and call it a day.

BTW, the number never made sense as well. It got its number from the positioning between Nashville and Chattanooga, which clearly should have been a north-south route. I wonder who the Einstein was that thought this was an east-west route?

[hbelkins]

Most of the diagonal routes are a toss-up as to whether they could be N-S or E-W. I-26 is another good example. I-71 is another -- in fact, it parallels an even US route (although Ohio signs US 42 N-S). I think a case could even be made for I-85 being an E-W route.

[edwaleni]

St Louis is on the Mileage signs in Kentucky on I-24 West

I thought it was a signed Control as well, but need to find a picture of it

St Louis is used as a Control at ramps entering I-24 West in Paducah

You mean this?

[ilpt4u]

Perfect examples, but not the only ones

Points out that IDOT is just more inconsistent, not just I-57 vs I-24, but also I-24 going across the Ohio, with a Control City basically disappearing from KY to IL

[edwaleni]

Wasn't one of the original routings for I-24 proposed to tie into I-55 around Cape Girardeau? Had it done that, using St. Louis as a control would have made a little more sense, although I would have went with Cape.

I understand the original concept of I-24 was to link Nashville to St. Louis, however, in its current form, it really doesn't make sense to use St. Louis as a control. Like others have said, you have to take two additional interstates to get to St. Louis.

I would just go with Clarksville, Paducah and Marion heading north from Nashville and call it a day.

BTW, the number never made sense as well. It got its number from the positioning between Nashville and Chattanooga, which clearly should have been a north-south route. I wonder who the Einstein was that thought this was an east-west route?

According to the ISTEA/NHS/TEA-21 Legislation, money was appropriated for a feasibility study of a tollway running from East Saint Louis to Carbondale (City and State Rural Access Item 31) and for upgrading Illinois 13 in Williamson County (City and State Rural Access Item 35).
The three best alternatives for the proposed expressway, according to a consulting team headed by the planning agency of Wilbur Smith and Associates, are:

From north of Waterloo to Carbondale, via Red Bud, Sparta and Murphysboro.
From the Mousette Lane interchange on Interstate 255 at Cahokia to Carbondale, via New Athens, Sparta and Murphysboro.
From Interstate 64 east of Illinois 4 near the commercial airport being built at Scott Air Force Base to Carbondale, via Marissa, Cutler and Murphysboro.

The Illinois Department of Transportation and a group of expressway supporters known as the Southwest Illinois Freeway Team, or SWIFT, held public meetings in October 1995 at Sparta and Carbondale to unveil the three suggested routes and to try to drum up more support for the highway. Members of SWIFT say the expressway is needed to reduce travel time and eliminate the frustration of driving on old, two-lane roads between the Metro East area and Carbondale-Marion. Currently, traffic must travel along two to four lane city and town streets, then take two-lane rural roads between the cities and towns. Another reason for the proposed new tollway is the potential to open up southwestern Illinois to more commercial and residential development, which is the mantra for many proposed new highway projects.

The tollway feasibility study indicates that a tollway between East St. Louis and Marion via Carbondale will not pay for itself, but the potential traffic count may still be significant. Some SWIFT members say that most people at the public meetings favored building an expressway. Many citizens were puzzled about why a toll road is being considered rather than a "free" road for this corridor, but that is due to the fact that the state does not have the funding. By 1998, this corridor was no longer actively considered for construction as an Interstate-grade facility.

I have spoken to people who live in that MSA (Murphysboro/Carbondale/Marion/Herrin) and they said catching flights to/in STL is very painful.  ILL Congressional delegation got a grant via the FAA to upgrade air facilities at Veterans Airport between Marion and Carbondale ($22 Million for a new terminal) and Cape Air serves it today with Allegiant Air doing its usual seasonal flirtation with flights to Florida in the summer.  Allegiant found that many of the Belleville to Las Vegas fliers were from the same MSA.  But I don't think the need for better air travel access can justify a dedicated route to St Louis.

I have asked people why don't they just drive over to I-55 across the river.  They kind of laughed at me and said, "Do you know how many places there are to cross the Mississippi between Cape Girardeau and Jefferson Barracks?"  "One, yes only ONE, at Chester on the Chester Bridge....do you know how long it takes to get to Chester?"

The conversation ended at that point.

[ilpt4u]

As someone who lives here now, all true on all counts

There was a report, in one of the local newspapers a couple months back, of another proposal to begin a 4 Lane Expressway (but not Freeway) upgrade from Murphysboro to Columbia

Who knows if/when it will ever happen. Would need a Capital/Infrastructure Bill in IL, and would need coupled with new revenue sources, aka taxes of some sort

Jobs and Infrastructure are popular topics in Governor and State House Races, but Tax increases are not

I can typically make it to STL Airport in about 1h30-45min coming from Carbondale, running into no traffic back ups. Most recent flight, the Poplar St Bridge was closed on the drive in, so all traffic was funneled onto the Stan Musial Bridge, with about a 10 minute delay or so...I got to my gate right as boarding started

If the Metro East were growing, an I-24 Extension/Freeway might have to happen. But it is not. Marion is growing, tho, partially because of the convergence of I-57 and I-24 Interstate routes

I have mentioned, in Fictional where it belongs, an idea for an extended I-24, a new MS River Bridge, leading to a new Outer Bypass in MO of the STL Metro Area, tying directly to The Avenue of the Saints, but that is purely Fictional. Cost would increase substantially due to a Bridge, and doubtful traffic would increase enough, even with a longer, Twin Cities to Chattanooga overall corridor