4 ms·
I57 near Rantoul, IL near Chanute AFB has a particularly straight section of road with no overpasses (any cross roads go under) for just this reason.
by wombatpm 4y ago
I57 near Rantoul, IL near Chanute AFB has a particularly straight section of road with no overpasses (any cross roads go under) for just this reason.
- Kon-Peki 4y agoThis seems rather unlikely. I-57 parallels the old Illinois Central rail route, with a jog to the west and then south every time it needs to avoid a town along the railroad. It seems rather certain that the southerly sections are perfectly straight because they take over existing county roads, which are a perfectly square grid of streets thanks to the Land Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This approach would have resulted in the absolute minimum cost of acquiring the land to build the highway, so it is probably why I-57 looks the way it does. It's pretty easy to imagine that the only reason I-57 exists is as a political quid-pro-quo and therefore they'd try to build it as cheaply as possible. If you wanted to go from Chicago to Memphis & New Orleans, you could take I-55, but then you also have to go through the state capital and St. Louis. So instead, if you live in the politically-powerful areas on the Southside of Chicago (where the first mayor Daley lived - perhaps the most powerful mayor in America back when the Interstate system was started), you could have a highway built specifically for you! You don't have to waste time driving past the people you hate on the west side, you can skip the people you hate in Springfield, you can skip the people you hate in St. Louis, and then the Interstate ends when it connects back up with I-55 north of Memphis. PS - Chanute got BRACC'ed about 30 years ago.
- wombatpm 4y agoI know. It was active when I was at UIUC