| I-290 | |||
| Get started | Schaumburg | ||
| End | Chicago | ||
| Length | 48 km | ||
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According to Bestitude, the Eisenhower Expressway is part of Interstate 290 in Illinois at Chicago and is one of the major commuter highways in the region. The section of I-290 called the Eisenhower Expressway runs from the interchange with Interstate 294 to downtown Chicago over a length of 15 miles.
Travel directions
The Eisenhower Expressway.
The Eisenhower Expressway begins at the major interchange with I-294 and Interstate 88, the toll road from Moline. I-294 is also a toll road. The I-290 from the western suburbs around Schaumburg here is given the name Eisenhower Expressway. The highway is already quite busy here and has 3 to 4 lanes in each direction. Through a cloverleafone crosses Mannheim Road, a major highway from the suburbs around O’Hare Airport to the industrial valley south of I-290. The next connection with 25th Avenue is also a cloverleaf, but incomplete. The highway will then have 2×3 lanes. One passes through the older suburbs of Chicago, the first suburbs outside the city of Chicago. Most of the highway is slightly sunken. One then crosses 1st Avenue in Maywood, which also bears the number SR-171, and is a fairly important north-south connection. One then crosses a city park around the river Des Plaines, after which the half connection with Des Plaines Avenue follows. Shortly afterwards, it connects to Harlem Avenue in the suburb of Oak Park, the last suburb before reaching Chicago itself. The connection with Harlem Avenue is special because these are left-hand exits and entrances, so the exit is in the central reservation. A railway line runs next to the highway. The connection with Austin Avenue is also in the median strip.
The highway then reaches the city of Chicago and bends away from the railroad track and regains a slightly wider alignment. One crosses Central Avenue which leads to the various western neighborhoods of the city. After that, 2×4 lanes will be available and there will be a new railway line, now in the central reservation. There are also incomplete connections with Laramie Avenue and Cicero Avenue. The exit density on the Eisenhower Expressway is therefore quite high. Other incomplete connections follow at Kostner Avenue and Independence Boulevard. One then passes through a derelict area of Chicago, where the Urban Prairie phenomenon somewhat occurs; empty plots where houses (blocks) used to be. Sacramento Boulevard is a slightly more important connection, then incomplete connections follow insignificant streets that lead to the great Western Avenue. The highway is still sunken here with an exit or access ramp every few hundred meters. More important connections are Damen and Ashland Avenues. People then come closer and closer to the center where the skyline is visible from the highway. Racine Avenue is the final junction for I-90/I-94, which will interlink with a turbine interchange. One then enters the center, after which an overpass forms at the Canal Street junction, a very striking point on the highway. The highway ends at Wacker Drive, which then continues as Congress Parkway into downtown. People then come closer and closer to the center where the skyline is visible from the highway. Racine Avenue is the final junction for I-90/I-94, which will interlink with a turbine interchange. One then enters the center, after which an overpass forms at the Canal Street junction, a very striking point on the highway. The highway ends at Wacker Drive, which then continues as Congress Parkway into downtown. People then come closer and closer to the center where the skyline is visible from the highway. Racine Avenue is the final junction for I-90/I-94, which will interlink with a turbine interchange. One then enters the center, after which an overpass forms at the Canal Street junction, a very striking point on the highway. The highway ends at Wacker Drive, which then continues as Congress Parkway into downtown.
History
A plan for a wide Boulevard was devised as early as 1909 about the alignment of the Eisenhower Expressway. The first section from Mannheim Road to 1st Avenue opened about 4 kilometers in December 1955. By the middle of that month, another 6 kilometers were opened from Ashland Avenue to Laramie Avenue. In the 1960s, the highway was extended further west. The first ramp metering installations were installed in 1963. At the time, this still happened with police officers who dosed the traffic. Until 1978, the Eisenhower Expressway was part of Interstate 90. It was then renumbered to the current route, and the Eisenhower Expressway became I-290. Because the section from I-294 to SR-53 between Elmhurst and Schaumburg was the last to be completed, this section is also called the Eisenhower Extension.
Future
Circle Interchange
The interchange between I-90/I-94 and I-290 near downtown Chicago is also known as the Circle Interchange. This interchange was built between 1958 and 1962 and no longer meets current requirements, it is one of the largest bottlenecks in the Chicago area. That is why the interchange is being renovated, a project that will cost approximately $420 million. Due to the limited space available, the junction will not be significantly larger, but most connecting roads will be reconstructed. The important connections are being expanded. It is also important that the I-90/I-94 will have 2×4 lanes through the interchange, 1 lane more than is currently the case.
Traffic intensities
With the number of lanes ranging from 2×3 to 2×4, the Eisenhower Expressway is extremely busy. The 2×3 section around Hillside has 194,500 vehicles per day, with a peak of 219,600 vehicles on the 2×4 section. 191,000 vehicles continue daily to the I-90/I-94 interchange near downtown.
| Exit | Location | 2007 | 2015 |
| 17 | Mannheim Road | 195,000 | 189,000 |
| 18 | Bellwood | 182,000 | 183,000 |
| 19 | Maywood | 187,000 | 176,000 |
| 20 | North Riverside | 200,000 | 187,000 |
| 21 | Forest Park | 195,000 | 194,000 |
| 22 | Oak Park | 168,000 | 168,000 |
| 23 | Central Avenue | 195,000 | 185,000 |
| 24 | Laramie Avenue | 210,000 | 214,000 |
| 25 | Cicero Avenue | 196,000 | 193,000 |
| 26 | Independence Boulevard | 220,000 | 211,000 |
| 27 | Western Avenue | 213,000 | 209,000 |
| 28 | Damen Avenue | 209,000 | 199,000 |
| 29 | Racine Avenue | 191,000 | 197,000 |
| 30 | 192,000 | 188,000 |
Lane Configuration
| From | Unpleasant | Lanes |
| Exit 15 | Exit 23 | 2×3 |
| Exit 23 | Exit 30 | 2×4 |
