Illinois state highway system Illinois Tollway system

In the U.S. state of Illinois, Interstate 74 (I-74) is a major northwest-southeast Interstate Highway that runs across the central portion of the state. It runs from the Iowa state line at the Mississippi River southeast to the Indiana state line east of Danville, Illinois. This is a distance of 220.34 miles (354.60 km). The highway is officially named after Everett McKinley Dirksen, a Republican Senator and U.S. Congressman from Pekin from 1933 to his death in 1969.

In November 2006 major work was completed on the Upgrade 74 project for the portion of I-74 in the Midwest. This multi-year project, begun in April 2002, saw the complete renovation of I-74 through East Peoria and Peoria. Most notably the interstate was widened to three lanes through the cities, many blind or hairpin exits and entrances to the highway were removed or corrected, and many bridges crossing the highway were replaced. The biggest part of this project was work on the Murray Baker Bridge, over which I-74 crosses the Illinois River. The bridge was completely closed to traffic while being partially dismantled and reconstructed from April 2 to October 15, 2005. During this time I-74 was disconnected between Peoria and East Peoria.

The Iowa and Illinois departments of transportation are in the planning stages to build a new bridge to replace the aging I-74 Bridge. The Iowa-bound bridge opened in 1935; the Illinois bridge in 1958. In addition to replacing the bridges, the scope of the bi-state coalition's plan includes updating 7 miles (11 km) of I-74 mainline and interchanges from 53rd Street in Davenport to the Avenue of the Cities in Moline.