I-70 enters Illinois from St. Louis by crossing the Mississippi River on the four-lane Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge into the village of Brooklyn in St. Clair County. The first interchange is for Illinois Route 3 (IL 3), which heads south toward Cahokia; the Interstate has an interchange with I-64 toward Fairview Heights and I-55, which it joins and heads northeast.[1] Previously, I-70 ran together with I-55 and I-64 across the Poplar Street Bridge downstream, crossing into East St. Louis; when it was realigned to the current routing, the section through Downtown was absorbed into another Interstate.
I-55/I-70 have an interchange with IL 203 before entering Madison County. The Interstate has a diamond interchange with IL 111 just north of Fairmont City and a partial one with Black Lane before the highway's interchange with I-255 west of Collinsville. I-55/I-70 curve northeast around Collinsville and leave the floodplain of the Mississippi River at the interchange with IL 157 (Bluff Road), where the highway reduces to four lanes. The Interstate passes between Collinsville and Maryville, which are both served by the next interchange with IL 159 (Vandalia Street/Maryville Road). US 40 leaves the freeway at a trumpet interchange southwest of Troy. I-55/I-70 curve to the north and meet IL 162 (Edwardsville Road) before they diverge at their interchange with I-270. The interchange, exit 20, is a full cloverleaf except for a flyover ramp for westbound I-70 to join southbound I-55. Westbound I-70's interchange is exit 15; the exits east of that are numbered as if I-70 had run along I-270 for the first few miles in Illinois.[1]
I-70 meets IL 4 and IL 143 to the south and east of Marine before crossing Highland Silver Lake. US 40 rejoins I-70 near Pierron, and the two highways travel concurrently into Bond County, where they separate at Pocahontas. Here, I-70 crosses Shoal Creek. US 40 continues to closely parallel I-70 until the next interchange, which is a connector to US 40 southwest of Greenville. The two highways pass to the south of Greenville, which is also served via an interchange with IL 127. East of Mulberry Grove, I-70/US 40 cross to the north side of the east–west rail line and again closely parallel each other into Fayette County. I-70 passes along the northern edge of Vandalia, with access to the county seat of Fayette County provided by an interchange with US 40 on the west side and US 51 (Kennedy Boulevard) to the north. Just east of US 51, I-70 crosses the Kaskaskia River. I-70 crosses to the south side of both the rail line and US 40 (Cumberland Road) between Bluff City and Brownstown. The Interstate passes to the south of St. Elmo before entering Effingham County to the west of an interchange with IL 128 at Altamont.[1]
Immediately after crossing the Little Wabash River, I-70 joins I-57 in a concurrency to pass around the west and north sides of Effingham. The two Interstates use I-57's exit sequence during the concurrency. I-57/I-70 have interchanges with Fayette Avenue, IL 32 and IL 33 (Keller Drive), and US 45 (Third Street) before diverging near Teutopolis. Just east of Montrose, I-70 enters Cumberland County, where the Interstate has one interchange with IL 130 (Haughton Highway) at Greenup, where the highway crosses the Embarras River. The Interstate continues into Clark County for an interchange with IL 49 north of Casey. I-70 crosses the North Fork Embarras River north of Martinsville, then has an interchange with IL 1 north of the county seat of Marshall. Northeast of Marshall, US 40 rejoins I-70 in a concurrency. The highways then cross the Indiana state line west of Terre Haute, Indiana, while closely paralleling the original alignment of US 40, Illiana Drive.[1]
History
In 1957, the first section of I-70 was built near Troy. However, initially, it was not signed as I-70. Instead, it was signed as US 66.[3] In 1960, the expressway extended southwest to Collinsville. In a 1960 highway map, both I-55 and I-70 appeared for the first time.[4] In 1961, I-70 also appeared between Effingham and Montrose.[5] In 1962, both I-55 and I-70 further extended southwest to Exchange Avenue. Also, I-70 extended southwest from Effingham to IL 128 near Altamont.[6] In 1964, it extended further southwest from IL 128 to US 40 in between Bluff City and Brownstown. In East St. Louis, I-55/I-70 extended southwest even further to directly connect to the Veterans Memorial Bridge.[7] In 1965, an I-55/I-270 interchange was made.[8] This would later be used for connecting I-70 eastward to Highland since 1966. That same year, I-70 extends west from US 40 near Bluff City to US 51 and then back to US 40.[9] In 1968, the Poplar Street Bridge, a beam bridge, opened. That same year, the eastern portion of I-70 extended further west to IL 127 near Greenville. The western portion of I-70 extended east to Pocahontas.[10] In 1969, both long sections were connected.[11] In 1970, part of I-70 appeared nine miles (14 km) west from Indiana.[12] In 1972, a final connection in Illinois (from Montrose to IL 1 north of Marshall) was made.[13]
^Illinois Division of Highways; H.M. Gousha (1957). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:805,000]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^Illinois Division of Highways; H.M. Gousha (1960). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:790,00]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^Illinois Division of Highways; H.M. Gousha (1961). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:790,00]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^Illinois Division of Highways; H.M. Gousha (1962). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:790,00]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^Illinois Division of Highways; Rand McNally (1964). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:757,500]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^Illinois Division of Highways; Rand McNally (1965). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:757,500]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^Illinois Division of Highways; Rand McNally (1966). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:772,500]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^Illinois Division of Highways (1968). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:772,500]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^Illinois Division of Highways; Rand McNally (1969). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:772,500]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^Illinois Division of Highways; Rand McNally (1970). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:772,500]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^Illinois Department of Transportation (1972). Illinois Official Highway Map (Map). [1:772,500]. Springfield: Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 22, 2020 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
