It’s not Iowa, no, but it might become an addendum to my note about recent interstate creations in the Midwest — and affect my plans to travel every interstate in Illinois.
West of O’Hare Airport in suburban Chicago, a freeway that has had no numerical designation abruptly begins at US 20 and ends at I-290. It’s called the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway, but wags have often noted it goes to neither place.
It’s finally been given a number, IL 390, a number that would seem deliberately chosen. Will it at some point be signed at I-390? This WLS-TV report thinks so.
The freeway will also be extended to near O’Hare, fulfilling at least one end of the plan from long ago. However, there is a catch: It will be built as a toll road. In fact, the existing stretch may be tolled too, a changeover that would be accomplished by making it all-electronic. This press release from the state has more.