Interstate 74 East - Farmer City to Champaign

Eastbound I-74 at the rest area outside Farmer City. A companion area lies along westbound.

05/24/08

Advancing east to Farmer City, Interstate 74 switches sides with U.S. 150. A diamond interchange (Exit 159) with IL 54 (Clinton Avenue) provides the main access point to the city of over 2,000.

05/07/10

IL 54 travels 117 miles northeast from Springfield to U.S. 45 at Onarga as part of the former alignment for U.S. 54 between Pittsfield and Chicago.

05/07/10

Clinton Avenue encircles the Farmer City street grid west paralleling Salt Creek to Clinton Lake. Gibson City is 21 miles to the northeast along IL 54 at IL 9, which met I-74 previously in Bloomington.

05/07/10

Heading away from Farmer City, Interstate 74 crosses Salt Creek ahead of the Piatt County line.

05/24/08

Interstate 74 traverses a 7.9 mile long swath of northern Piatt County.

05/07/10

Very few trees grow on the landscape besides Interstate 74 through Piatt County, allowing snow to easily blow across the four lane freeway during the colder weather months.

12/27/09

Exit 166 at the village of Mansfield is the lone interchange along Interstate 74 in Piatt County.

05/07/10

Interstate 74 spans a Norfolk Southern Railroad line a half mile from the diamond interchange (Exit 166) with Piatt County Route 2 north and McKinley Street south into Mansfield.

05/07/10

Piatt County Route 2 leads north from Exit 166 to Blue Ridge. U.S. 150 remains south of I-74 to Mahomet and Champaign.

05/24/08

Two exits precede Champaign 16 miles to the east. IL 47 converges with the freeway in five miles at Mahomet.

05/24/08

05/07/10

I-74 east reaches the Champaign County line midway between Mansfield and Mahomet.

05/07/10

Mahomet is a village of 7,258 (2010 census) along the Sangamon River and U.S. 150, ten miles to the northwest of Champaign. IL 47 follows Lombard Street south from forthcoming Exit 172 to overlap with U.S. 150 through the Mahomet business district.

05/07/10

IL 47 constitutes a 160 mile long highway from IL 10, five miles south of Mahomet, to the Wisconsin state line north of Hebron.

05/24/08

IL 47 north leads to Lake of the Woods Preserve, which is home to the Early American Museum.

05/24/08

Eastbound at the diamond interchange (Exit 172) with IL 47 (Lombard Street). North from Mahomet, IL 47 travels 18 miles to Gibson City and a concurrency with IL 9/54.

05/07/10

The Sangamon River, a 245 mile waterway with headwaters in McLean County, flows generally westward from under I-74 at Mahomet to the Illinois River near Beardstown.

05/24/08

Prairieview Road joins Interstate 74 with the east side of Mahomet at a diamond interchange (Exit 174) in one mile.

05/07/10

North from Exit 174, Prairieview Road is the eastern half of the County Route 50 loop to Lake of the Woods.

05/07/10

Just south from Exit 174, Prairieview Road intersects U.S. 150 (Oak Street). U.S. 150 (Bloomington Road) stays south of I-74 without direct access to northwest Champaign.

05/07/10

Interstate 74 continues east across Yankee Ridge to enter the Champaign city limits at Duncan Road.

12/27/09

05/24/08

Champaign appears with Urbana on this distance sign posted posted after Exit 179. Interstate 57 is next in four miles.

05/07/10

Champaign is the home of the University of Illinois. Memorial Stadium, home of Fighting Illini football, is reached via I-57 south from Exit 179A to I-72 east to IL 10 and U.S. 45 south. Lincoln Avenue is signed as the best route to the main campus from Exit 183.

05/24/08

Interstate 57 travels nearly the length of Illinois for 357 miles from the Missouri River at Cairo to Chicago. Memphis, Tennessee is the control city throughout the state for I-57 south.

12/27/09

Beyond I-57 on I-74, there are two exits for Champaign and three exits for Urbana over the course of six miles.

05/24/08

Interstate 57 south joins I-70 in 74 miles through Effingham and I-64 through Mount Vernon in 141 miles.

05/24/08

Exit 179 B follows onto I-57 north 71 miles to Kankakee and 120 miles to Interstate 94 in south Chicago.

05/07/10

Heading east from the Champaign-Urbana area, the next exit is for the community of St. Joseph in five miles. Danville and Indianapolis follow at 28 and 114 miles respectively.

08/19/10