(abbreviated '''I-294''') is part of the
Tri-State Tollway in
Illinois . It goes from
Deerfield at
Interstate 94 to
South Holland at Interstates
80 and 94, and
Illinois Route 394 near the
Illinois /
Indiana state line. The tollway used to be regarded as an alternate route to avoid downtown
Chicago and its associated traffic, but over the last few decades it has been used more by commuters traveling from suburb to suburb. Interstate 294 is 53 miles (85 km) long.
Interstate 294 has 3 of the Tri-State Tollway's 4 mainline barriers. These are located at:
The fourth is on I-94 by Waukegan.
Interstate 294 is generally 6 lanes wide between I-94 at Deerfield and I-90 by O'Hare. From O'Hare to
U.S. 12 /
U.S. 20 (95th Street), the road is 8 lanes wide. As of
2005 , the remainder of the tollway is 6 lanes wide, being expanded to 8 by
2008 .
In
1998 , the authority removed the entire multilane on the Tri-State, then considered one of the worst snags on the tollway system. To make up for the lost tolls, the Tollway Authority built the '''Edens Spur Toll Plaza''' on the Edens Spur to charge traffic that followed Interstate 94 into Chicago. In addition, tolls at the '''Waukegan Toll Plaza''' were increased, and additional toll plazas built on exits south of Deerfield at Lake-Cook Road, Willow Road and Golf Road (Illinois 58). Tolls were also added to entrance ramps to the northbound Tri-State at that point.
The state of
Indiana wanted to extend Interstate 294 east on the current
Borman Expressway to
Indiana Route 912 , before having it turn north at that point, west at
U.S. Highway 12 , and then back to I-94, most likely somewhere on the
Bishop Ford Expressway . The request was denied.
- Interstate 294 has no interchange on Interstate 57 , although one is being considered. Plans for the interchange are currently at PE 1, or preliminary engineering.
- Interstate 294 was built largely before the growth and maturation of the suburbs which run along Interstate 294. As a result, the vast majority of the interchanges are partial, or are configured to have exit ramps facing away from O'Hare International Airport , and entrance ramps facing towards the airport — similar to the Northwest Tollway 's configuration east of Elgin . As a result, "gaps" between exit ramps are common, the 9.5 mile (15.3 kilometer) gap between Cicero Avenue (Illinois 50/83) and 95th Street (U.S. 12/20) being one of the more notable gaps. Other partial interchanges are located at Roosevelt Road (Illinois 38) (southbound exit, northbound entrance), Irving Park Road (Illinois 19) (southbound exit, northbound entrance), Golf Road (Illinois 58) (southbound exit, northbound entrance) and Dempster Street (U.S. 14) (northbound exit, southbound entrance).
See
Tri-State Tollway#Exit List for all exits on Interstate 294.
