Illinois Route 49 is a north–south state highway in east-central Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. It runs from Willow Hill

Willow Hill, Illinois

Willow Hill is a village in Jasper County, Illinois. The population was 250 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Willow Hill is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all of it land....

 at Illinois Route 33

Illinois Route 33

Illinois Route 33 is a multidirectional highway in southeastern Illinois, with its western terminus at Illinois Route 128 on the Fayette–Effingham county line near Beecher City and its southern terminus at U.S. Highway 50 east of Lawrenceville. It also overlaps Illinois Route 32 from Shumway to...

 north to the beginning of the U.S. Route 45

U.S. Route 45

U.S. Route 45 is a north–south United States highway. US 45 is a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as ....

/52

U.S. Route 52

U.S. Route 52 is a United States highway that runs across the northern, eastern and southeastern regions of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S...

 concurrency

Concurrency (road)

A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...

 near Ashkum

Ashkum, Illinois

Ashkum is a village in Ashkum Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. The population was 724 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ashkum is located at ....

. This is a distance of 140.86 miles (226.7 km).
Illinois 49 runs for its length entirely as an undivided surface highway. It serves minor cities between Illinois Route 1

Illinois Route 1

Illinois Route 1 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Illinois. Running parallel to the Indiana border, it is also the longest state road, starting on the south side of Chicago as Halsted Street at the intersection with 95th Street, south to a free ferry crossing to Kentucky at Cave-In-Rock on...

 to the east and Interstate 57

Interstate 57

Interstate 57 is an Interstate Highway in Missouri and Illinois that parallels the old Illinois Central rail line for much of its route. It goes from Miner, Missouri, at Interstate 55 to Chicago, Illinois, at Interstate 94. I-57 essentially serves as a shortcut route for travelers headed between...

 to the west.
SBI Route 49 originally ran from Willow Hill all the way to Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 along what is now U.S.