Interstate 39

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Interstate 39 was designated along freeway portions of U.S. 51 between Bloomington and Rockford in the 1980s. Its origins dated back to 1945 with Illinois officials advocating for a route between Salem and South Beloit along U.S. 51. Completion of the Interstate in Illinois occurred on Halloween 1992.1

Interstate 39 Illinois Guides

A new freeway alignment for U.S. 51 opened from Interstate 80 near La Salle southward to Oglesby in early 1989. This included the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Bridge, which was completed in 1987, across the Illinois River.1 A 5.3 mile portion in McLean County, north of Normal / Exit 2, opened in December 11, 1989. This stretch cost $26.6 million.2

Construction of the exchange with Interstate 55 followed into 1990, which included work to reconfigure the existing full cloverleaf interchange with U.S. 51 into a folded diamond.3

Further construction added another 12 miles of Interstate 39 between IL 18 / Exit 41 and the La Salle stretch on July 2, 1991 at a cost of $46.5 million.3

The final 33 mile portion between I-55 and I-80 cost $165 million. 3 Costing $12.1 million, work on a 4.4 mile section from Hudson / Exit 5 to Kappa started on July 17, 1990 and was completed on May 29, 1992. Traffic shifted to the future southbound lanes of I-39 with two-way traffic for U.S. 51 on this segment in August 1991. Crew would then remove the old roadway for U.S. 51 to make way for northbound I-39. Additional work replicated the process between IL 116 and IL 18 with traffic using the southbound lanes of the new freeway in a temporary configuration for U.S. 51.4 Completion between IL 116 / Exit 22 and IL 17 / Exit 35 took place on September 2, 1992.5

The final segment of U.S. 51 upgraded to Interstate 39 was the 12 mile section between Kappa and IL 116 / Exit 22. A ceremony marking the completion of Interstate 39 at U.S. 24 near El Paso took place on October 31, 1992. Overall I-39 cost $622 million to complete in Illinois.6

Interstate 39 scenes
U.S. 51 Business concludes an 8.9 mile route through Bloomington-Normal at the first interchange of Interstate 39 north. 05/07/10
Walnut Street east at the diamond interchange with I-39/U.S. 51 in the city of Oglesby. 09/04/05
I-39 north sign at the Willow Creek Rest Area in Lee County. 05/09/10

Sources:
  1. "Completion of last link ends the 47-year-old saga of I-39" Pantagraph, The (Bloomington, IL), October 31, 1992.
  2. "5-mile section of I-39 to open in 2 weeks" Pantagraph, The (Bloomington, IL), December 1, 1989.
  3. "Continue good job along 'missing 51'" Pantagraph, The (Bloomington, IL), December 14, 1989.
  4. "12-mile stretch of I-39 opens." Pantagraph, The (Bloomington, IL), July 3, 1991.
  5. "I-39 stretch opened." Pantagraph, The (Bloomington, IL), September 3, 1992.
  6. "Illinois 121, I-39 hitting milestones." Pantagraph, The (Bloomington, IL), October 27, 1992.


Photo Credits:

09/04/05, 05/07/10, 05/09/10 by AARoads

Connect with:
Interstate 55
Interstate 88
Interstate 90
U.S. 6
U.S. 20
U.S. 30

Page Updated 05-01-2018.

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