The Peoria-to-Chicago Highway refers to an effort in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of 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,...

 made in the late 1990s to directly connect the cities of Peoria

Peoria, Illinois

Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...

 and Chicago with a multilane freeway. Plans for any highway failed due to grass-roots efforts against the highway.

Current routes to Peoria from Chicago

There are five existing major routes from Chicago to Peoria. The four shortest require Peoria-to-Chicago traffic to divert from major interstates, and the fifth all-interstate option adds approximately 40 miles (64.4 km) to a 180 miles (289.7 km) trip.

Interstate 180 / Illinois Route 29 / Illinois Route 6

This option utilizes Interstate 55

Interstate 55

Interstate 55 is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Its odd number indicates that it is a north–south Interstate Highway. I-55 goes from LaPlace, Louisiana at Interstate 10 to Chicago at U.S. Route 41 , at McCormick Place. A common nickname for the highway is "double...

, Interstate 80

Interstate 80

Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...

, and Interstate 180

Interstate 180 (Illinois)

Interstate 180 is a north–south spur highway that runs from Princeton, Illinois to the small town of Hennepin, Illinois on its southern terminus. It is long.- Route description :...

 to approach Peoria from the north. The freeways end at Illinois Route 29

Illinois Route 29

Illinois Route 29 is a two to four lane state road that runs south from U.S. Route 6/Illinois Route 89 at Spring Valley to U.S. Route 51/Illinois Route 16 at Pana, running through Pekin, Peoria and Springfield. The nearest major north–south highway, Interstate 39, runs parallel to Illinois...

. This was considered a prime candidate for conversion to a four-lane expressway

Controlled-access highway

A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated...

, and Interstate 180 was resurfaced in the late 1990s with that goal in mind. The highway would then connect to Illinois Route 6

Illinois Route 6

Illinois Route 6 is a 4-lane freeway in central Illinois. It begins as a northern extension of Interstate 474 at Interstate 74 west of Peoria, and ends at Illinois Route 29 in Mossville, south of Chillicothe...

 in Chillicothe

Chillicothe, Illinois

Chillicothe is a city on the Illinois River in Peoria County, Illinois. The population was 5,996 at the 2000 census. Chillicothe is just north of the city of Peoria and is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.- Geography :...

. The highway would have run through a handful of small towns on the Illinois River

Illinois River

The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the State of Illinois. The river drains a large section of central Illinois, with a drainage basin of . This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route...

, however.

This was the original route planned for in late 1970s. Environmental concerns (state and federal) raised concerns about an interstate route along this section of the Illinois River valley.

If this route was ever built, it could become part of the proposed Kansas City-Chicago Expressway, connecting to the planned Illinois Route 336

Illinois Route 336

Illinois Route 336 is a four-lane freeway/expressway combination that serves western Illinois. It is also used to refer to the name of a future project to connect the cities of Quincy and Peoria via underserved Macomb....

, and the planned Interstate 72

Interstate 72

Interstate 72 is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. Its western terminus is in Hannibal, Missouri, at an intersection with U.S. Route 61; its eastern terminus is at Country Fair Drive in Champaign, Illinois. In 2006, the Illinois General Assembly dedicated all of Interstate 72...

 across Missouri.

Illinois Route 116

This option utilizes Interstate 55

Interstate 55

Interstate 55 is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Its odd number indicates that it is a north–south Interstate Highway. I-55 goes from LaPlace, Louisiana at Interstate 10 to Chicago at U.S. Route 41 , at McCormick Place. A common nickname for the highway is "double...

 to Illinois Route 116

Illinois Route 116

Illinois Route 116 is a cross-state rural state highway that runs from U.S. Route 34 by Gladstone east to the intersection of U.S. Route 45 and Old U.S. Route 45, on the north side of Ashkum...

, and entering Peoria from the northeast. Illinois 116 would have been upgraded to a four-lane freeway through Benson

Benson, Illinois

Benson is a village in Woodford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 408 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

, Roanoke

Roanoke, Illinois

Roanoke is a village in Woodford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,994 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.-2004 Tornado:...

, and Metamora

Metamora, Illinois

Metamora is a village in Woodford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,700 at the 2000 census. Metamora is a growing suburb of Peoria and is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 west of Interstate 39, and eastward through to Interstate 55. This alignment would have displaced hundreds of acres of prime farmland

Prime farmland

Prime farmland is a designation assigned by U.S. Department of Agriculture defining land that has the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oilseed crops and is also available for these land uses....

. Illinois 116 is already a four-lane divided highway west of Metamora, but a bypass around all three cities would have been required.

U.S. Route 24

Similar to the Illinois 116 option, U.S. Route 24

U.S. Route 24

U.S. Route 24 is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Missouri, in the west. Today, the highway's eastern terminus is west of Clarkston, Michigan, at an intersection with I-75 and its western terminus is near...

 is already a four-lane divided highway from Peoria to Washington

Washington, Illinois

Washington is a city in Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,841 at the 2000 census. There are currently 13,167 people living in Washington, according to a 2004 special census. Washington is part of the Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. It would have required a bypass around Eureka

Eureka, Illinois

Eureka is a city in Woodford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,295 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Woodford County. The city was founded in the year 1855. Eureka is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area....

, however, and displaced acres of prime farmland.

Both US 24 and Illinois 116 already carry an elevated amount of traffic between Peoria and Chicago. Both roads are two-lane, 55 mph (100 km/h) roads, and high-speed head-on crashes are a growing danger in the area.

Interstate 39

Interstate 39

Interstate 39

Interstate 39 is a highway in the midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois at Interstate 55 to Highway 29 in Rothschild, Wisconsin, approximately six miles south of Wausau. I-39 was designed to replace US Highway 51, which in the early 1980s was one of the busiest two-lane...

 could have formed a leg from Interstate 80 to either Illinois 116 and US 24. At this point, however, the number of miles saved does not justify the project.

Interstate 74

The current all-Interstate method of traveling from Chicago to Peoria is by taking Interstate 55 to Interstate 74

Interstate 74

Interstate 74 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an intersection with Interstate 80 in Davenport, Iowa; the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an intersection with Interstate 75 in Cincinnati, Ohio...

.

Failure

Strong local opposition from local organizations cancelled the project despite the fact that the project had gone through the initial investigation, and an alignment had been determined. As a result, the Peoria-to-Chicago Highway remains deferred until the cost of any of the above alternatives can justify the need for a direct connection.