Interstate 88

Interstate 88 is a major east–west highway in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It connects the Quad Cities metropolitan area with the Chicago metropolitan area, serving as a vital corridor for commerce and travel. The route is officially designated as the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway in honor of the former President of the United States and former Governor of Illinois.

Route description

Beginning at a major interchange with Interstate 80 and Interstate 74 in Moline, Illinois, the highway travels eastward across the agricultural plains of northern Illinois. It passes near communities such as Sterling, Rochelle, and DeKalb, intersecting key routes like Interstate 39 and U.S. Route 51. The landscape transitions to more suburban development as it approaches the Fox Valley area, passing through Aurora and Naperville. The final segment is a heavily traveled, multi-lane toll road through DuPage County and into Cook County, where it terminates at an interchange with Interstate 290 in Hillside, Illinois, providing direct access to downtown Chicago.

History

The corridor was originally constructed and operated as the Illinois Tollway's East–West Tollway, opening in stages between 1958 and 1974 to improve connections between Chicago and growing western suburbs. Federal designation as an Interstate Highway was pursued to secure funding and increase its national significance; it was officially added to the Interstate Highway System in 1987. In 2004, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation renaming the highway after Ronald Reagan, who was born in Tampico and grew up in Dixon, towns near the route. Major reconstruction projects have been undertaken by the Illinois Department of Transportation, including the recent addition of open-road tolling gantries to improve traffic flow.

Major intersections

From west to east, key junctions include its western terminus at Interstate 80 in Moline, Illinois, concurrent with Interstate 74. It meets Interstate 280 near the Mississippi River before crossing the Rock River near Lyndon. A major cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 39 and U.S. Route 51 occurs at Rochelle. Farther east, it intersects Illinois Route 251 near DeKalb and Illinois Route 59 in Aurora. A pivotal junction with Interstate 355 occurs in Bolingbrook, Illinois, providing a bypass around Chicago. The highway then interchanges with the Tri-State Tollway (Interstate 294) in Hodgkins, Illinois, before culminating at its eastern terminus with Interstate 290 near the Cook-DuPage county line.

Auxiliary routes

There are no signed auxiliary three-digit Interstate highways directly serving this route. However, it connects with several major auxiliary routes of the broader Chicago area Interstate system. These include Interstate 290 (the Eisenhower Expressway), which provides a direct link toward the Chicago Loop, and Interstate 294, the Tri-State Tollway, which forms a bypass around the city. The nearby Interstate 355 (the Veterans Memorial Tollway), which intersects it, functions as a north–south auxiliary corridor for the Interstate 80 and Interstate 55 systems in the region. Category:Interstate Highways in Illinois Category:Transportation in the Chicago metropolitan area Category:East–west toll roads in the United States