Chicago expressways - South, Southeast, and Southwest

Stevenson Expressway	Ryan Expressway	I-57
Ford Expressway	Chicago Skyway

ADLAI E. STEVENSON EXPRESSWAY Route number: I-55 Direction: Southwest from downtown to Bolingbrook and Joliet. Continue on 55 to Bloomington/Normal, Springfield, and St. Louis Opened: 1964 Original name: Southwest Expressway Renamed: 1965 for Governor and U.N. Ambassador Stevenson Alternate routes: Archer Ave., Ogden Ave., and a combination of the Eisenhower Expressway and the Tri-State Tollway.   Top of page Exit guide*

DAN RYAN EXPRESSWAY Route number: I-90/94. I-90 splits from the Ryan at 67th Street. The Ryan is simply I-94 from 67th to 95th. Direction: South from downtown to 95th Street, where it splits into I-57 and I-94. Opened: 1962 Original name: Dan Ryan Expressway, named for the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Alternate routes: Lake Shore Drive, Halsted St. Trivia Bit: At 14 lanes, the Ryan is one of the world's widest expressways. Its "dual-dual" design consists of seven lanes in each direction : four "express" lanes with limited exits, and three local-access lanes.   Top of page Exit guide*

I-57 Direction: South and southwest from Chicago/95th Street to far south suburbs, Kankakee, Champaign/Urbana and southern Illinois Length: 358 miles Alternate routes: Halsted St., Western Ave.   Top of page Exit guide*

BISHOP FORD EXPRESSWAY Route number: I-94 to the Kingery Expressway (I-80) Direction: Southeast from Chicago/95th street to I-80, where I-94 joins 80 and heads east to Indiana state line. The Ford continues south as IL-394 to Sauk Trail. Original name: Calumet Expressway   Top of page Exit guide*

CHICAGO SKYWAY Route number: Formerly a part of I-90, the Skyway lost this interstate designation in August 1999. It is now marked as simply "TO I-90" (from Rich Carlson's Interstates page). It meets I-90 at both ends: Dan Ryan Expressway and the Indiana Toll Road. To my knowledge, the Indiana Toll Road is still I-90. Opened: 1961 Direction: Southeast from Dan Ryan Expressway to the Indiana state line Alternate routes: Bishop Ford Expressway to Kingery Expressway (I-80/94). South Chicago Ave. parallels this road from 67th to 95th streets.   Top of page Exit guide*

* Exit guides are from Brandon Gorte's site. The links open in a new browser window.

Sources: Chicago Public Library, the Illinois Highways Page, and the Chicago Area Interstates Page.

Note: Length refers to total Illinois length. Direction is specific to the Chicago area.

Expressways are grouped by general direction from the Loop:  
North and Northwest, West, South, Southeast and Southwest,  and Perimeter/Outlying.