Interstate 74

Interstate 74 (I-74) is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern and southeastern United States. Its western end is at an interchange with Interstate 80 in Davenport, Iowa (Quad Cities); the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an interchange with Interstate 75 in Cincinnati, Ohio. I-74 also exists as several disconnected sections of highways in North Carolina; also see List of gaps in Interstate Highways.

Route description

Iowa

In the state of Iowa, Interstate 74 runs south from Interstate 80 for 5.36 miles (8.63 km) before crossing into Illinois on the Interstate 74 Bridge. North of the Mississippi River, I-74 bisects Bettendorf and Davenport.

Illinois

In the state of Illinois, Interstate 74 runs south from Moline to Galesburg; from this point it runs southeast through Peoria to the Bloomington-Normal area and Interstate 55. I-74 continues southeast to the Champaign-Urbana area, intersecting with Interstate 57. The interstate then runs east past Danville at the Illinois-Indiana state line. U.S. Route 150 parallels Interstate 74 in Illinois for its entire length, save the last few miles on the eastern end (in Danville, when US 150 turns south on Illinois 1), where it parallels U.S. Route 136.

Interstate 74 in Iowa

Interstate 74 (I-74) is the central freeway through the Iowa Quad Cities. It roughly divides Davenport to the west and Bettendorf to the east. The Interstate Highway begins at an interchange with Interstate 80 (I-80) at the northeastern edge of Davenport and continues into Illinois at the Mississippi River by crossing the I-74 Bridge. The freeway was built in stages during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The northern half of the interstate was built atop farmland in northeastern Davenport, while the southern half was built near the existing U.S. Route 6 (US 6) corridor through Bettendorf. After the approaches to the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge were rebuilt for interstate traffic, it was completed and opened to traffic on November 26, 1974.

The Iowa and Illinois departments of transportation are planning a major reconstruction project along I-74. The 7-mile-long (11 km) corridor will be widened from four lanes to six. A new river crossing will be built to replace the aging bridges. Eastbound motorists on I-80 wishing to use I-74 east of the Quad Cities are suggested to use I-80 east around town for this reason.

Interstate 74 in Illinois

Interstate 74 (I-74) in the U.S. state of Illinois is a major northwest–southeast Interstate Highway that runs across the central portion of the state. It runs from the Iowa state line at the Mississippi River near the city of Rock Island and runs southeast to the Indiana state line east of Danville, a distance of 220.34 miles (354.60 km). The highway runs through the major cities of Champaign, Bloomington, Peoria, and Moline.

The highway is officially named after Everett McKinley Dirksen, a Republican Senator and U.S. Congressman from Pekin from 1933 to his death in 1969.

History

In November 2006 major work was completed on the Upgrade 74 project for the portion of I-74 in the Midwest. This multi-year project, begun in April 2002, saw the complete renovation of I-74 through East Peoria and Peoria. Most notably the interstate was widened to three lanes through the cities, many blind or hairpin exits and entrances to the highway were removed or corrected, and many bridges crossing the highway were replaced. The biggest part of this project was work on the Murray Baker Bridge, over which I-74 crosses the Illinois River. The bridge was completely closed to traffic while being partially dismantled and reconstructed from April 2 to October 15, 2005. During this time I-74 was disconnected between Peoria and East Peoria. In late March 2013, the biggest road reconstruction project in the Peoria area since the 2002-2006 project- a complete $86.6 million revision of the Morton, Illinois I-74/I-155 interchange system- started its beginning phases (Morton, a hub for the two interstates and the site of facilities for Caterpillar, Pepsi, and Libby's Pumpkin, is a growing Peoria suburb, across the Illinois River, east of East Peoria and Pekin, in Tazewell County). This latest project is scheduled to be finished by Summer 2016 and the reconstruction is being scheduled in phases to minimize traffic disruption.