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Interchange Index

Overhead Picture from terraserver-usa.com

Overview: This interchange lies just east of the Chicago-O'Hare International Airport. The main entrance to the airport is I-190, which runs due east-west across the bottom of the photo. Its eastern terminus is the semi-directional split at the lower right corner, and its western terminus is just west of here at the airport. Its other major interchange is a cloverleaf at US 12/US 45 just west of this photo. I-90 enters from the northwest as the Northwest Tollway, and leaves eastwardly on the John F. Kennedy Expressway. The north-south expressway visible is I-294, also known as the Tri-State Tollway. (Incidentally, the Tri-State Tollway lies entirely within the state of Illinois; the name probably comes from the fact that it almost touches the Indiana and Wisconsin borders.) The north-south local road east of I-294 is called North River Road, and the small river just to its east is the Des Plaines River. Exits are not numbered on the I-294 or I-90 tollways; this is exit 77 on I-90 WB, and exit 2 on I-190.

Interchange Description: This is really a conglomerate of four interchanges; one between I-90 and I-190; one just to the west between I-190 and River Road; one west of that where I-190 crosses I-294; and, lastly, a partial clover-stack at the junction of I-294 and I-90. Most of these are missing connections, which are provided by another one of the three interchanges. Details on each of the parts of this junction:

• I-90 and I-190: This is a very simple intersection; it is simply a semi-directional split. I-90 is treated as the mainline (which it is), with a right exit and entrance for I-190. A railroad line also runs through this intersection, coming up the median of I-90 to the east, crossing under the EB lanes of I-90, and then running up the median of I-190. Reverse movements are not needed here, as they are supplied by other ramps near I-294.
• I-190 and River Road: This interchange consists of a half-cloverleaf and a half-folded-diamond. The eastbound lanes of I-190 intersect River Road at a half-cloverleaf, with no terribly unique features. The westbound lanes form a half folded-diamond with River Road, with another ramp joining the onramp before it enters I-190. This ramp comes from I-294 NB; read on to find out why.
• I-190 and I-294: This part of the junction functions as if it were three-quarters of a cloverleaf, missing the ramps to provide movements from I-294 SB to I-190 EB and from I-190 WB to I-294 NB. (These are provided by I-90.) First of all, notice the ramp from I-294 SB to I-190 WB; it crosses over the ramp from I-90 EB a good distance north of I-190. This ramp also has its own toll booth, so that traffic from I-294 SB and I-90 EB doesn't "dodge" toll booths by exiting the tollways. The ramp from I-190 WB to I-294 SB is a left exit, passing over the railroad line and I-190 EB before merging into the right side of I-294. (Notice the rail yard in the median of I-190 east of this interchange - good use of space!) The cloverleaf loop from I-294 NB to I-190 WB is a little misshapen, as it runs through a toll booth and almost all the way to River Road before making a U-turn and joining the River Road onramp to I-190 WB. A ramp from I-294 NB to River Road is also available from this toll booth. Finally, the ramp from I-294 NB to I-190 EB is missing; it was replaced with a ramp from I-294 NB to I-90 EB, so that it would pass through the I-90 mainline toll booth.
• I-90 and I-294: This last part of the interchange can be described as 7/8 of a cloverstack; the only ramp missing is the loop ramp from I-90 WB to I-294 SB, which is provided by I-190. Note that two ramps appear to lead from I-294 NB to I-90 WB. The southern ramp splits off before I-190, and passes under the rail yard before offering access to I-90, I-190, and River Road. The northern ramp actually serves traffic from O'Hare Airport, which uses the ramp from I-190 EB to I-294 NB and immediately exits right for I-90 WB.

Advantages: This interchange serves a very high-traffic area, with constant traffic in and out of O'Hare Airport, commuters during rush hour on I-90, and traffic bypassing downtown Chicago via I-294. It does so very well: the only weaving is on I-190 EB as a result of the River Road half-cloverleaf, and there is only left exit (on I-190 - a pretty good percentage of the traffic uses it anyway.) Many of the better-used connections include flyovers instead of loop ramps, eliminating weaving and increasing the speed of traffic. Although the interchange is sprawling compared to most, the space is well-used: a rail yard was squeezed into the spread median of I-190, and the small triangle between I-190, I-90, and River Road is occupied by a Park and Ride lot for the CTA commuter trains. There used to be another cloverleaf ramp in this space; I would imagine that it was for traffic going from River Road NB to I-190 WB.

Disadvantages: It's a good thing the Chicago area has lots of taxpayers who could fund this. The cost here is phenomonal; notice the huge number of bridges, including the three-level crossing at I-90 and I-294. Better yet, check out the spot where the I-294 distributor road crosses under the entire rail yard - that's an awfully wide overpass. Land here must not have been cheap, either. Finally, Illinois has a strange aversion to ticket-based toll highways, but also hates to let travelers get anywhere without paying their fair share. As a result, toll booths are rampant. In this photo, there is one for the I-90 EB mainline, one for the I-294 NB offramps, and one for the I-90 EB and I-294 SB offramps. In addition, there is a mainline toll booth west of here on I-90 for WB traffic, north on I-294 for NB traffic and south on I-294 for SB traffic. In short, you can get into the interchange for free, but unless you're going east, you can't get out without paying. This increases construction costs (which are of course offset by the hordes of commuters paying the tolls), in addition to having to pay toll booth attendants for the folks who don't have I-Pass.

Thanks to help from Bill Schultz and "vxcxccvx xcvxcvc" (that's the name he gave me) for a little bit of local insight on the interchange.

Corrections? Suggestions? More information is always welcome.
Suggestions for more interchanges to cover on this site are great too.
Contact the author, Dan (known as DanTheMan on misc.transport.road):
twowheel@email.com