U.S. 20 runs for 3,365 miles from Newport, Oregon to Boston, Massachusetts and spends 156 of those miles through the northern tier of Indiana. Before the interstate highway system and the Indiana Toll Road, it was the main highway from Northwest Indiana to South Bend and Elkhart en route to Toledo. Today, the interstates and Indiana Toll Road have diminished some of that, still the highway remains well-traveled across the Hoosier State, spending most of its western half (from Elkhart west) as a four-lane route. The highway starts as part of a multiplex with U.S. 12 and U.S. 41 in northern Hammond, following Indianapolis Boulevard through Hammond and Whiting. From there it goes past several oil refineries and industrial centers. In East Chicago, U.S. 12 and U.S. 20 break with U.S. 12 going into central East Chicago and U.S. 20 heading south to Michigan Street, heading east into Gary, and rejoining U.S. 12 (at Indiana 912) as a pair of one-way streets through the industrial city.
East of Gary, the highways split off for good and U.S. 20 follows the path of Interstate 94 through Portage and Burns Harbor en route to Michigan City, which it bypasses to the south and east. Throughout its trek in Porter and LaPorte County it stays near U.S. 12. East of Michigan City, U.S. 20 is a four-lane expressway toward South Bend. At the intersection with Indiana 2, it heads north along a two-lane routing across northwestern St. Joseph County, while Indiana 2 continues the four-lane expressway toward South Bend. West of the South Bend Regional Airport, U.S. 20 reaches the St. Joseph Valley Parkway (U.S. 31), a four-lane freeway bypass of South Bend and Elkhart. East of Elkhart, the highway returns to a two-lane road where it heads east through LaGrange and Angola on its way toward Ohio. Throughout the state the highway is often used as a shunpiking route to the nearby Indiana Toll Road.
U.S. 20 Indiana Guides
- U.S. 12 East - Lake County (includes overlap with U.S. 20)
- U.S. 20 East - Portage to South Bend
- St. Joseph Valley Parkway South / East
- U.S. 20 East - Elkhart, LaGrange & Steuben Counties
- St. Joseph Valley Parkway West / North
- U.S. 20 West - South Bend to Portage
- U.S. 12 West - Lake County (includes overlap with U.S. 20)
Connect with:
Interstate 65
Interstate 90
Interstate 94
State Road 912 (Cline Avenue)
Page Updated 01-24-2012.