Interstate 290 ( I-290) is a main interstate freeway that connects the Chicago Loop to west suburbs and northwest suburbs of Chicago. Interstate-290 is named the Eisenhower Expressway from Interstate 294 to Congress Parkway at the Circle Interchange in Chicago. The Circle Interchange connects the Kennedy Expressway (I-90), the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/I-94), the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) and the highway connection to Congress Parkway.
The official endpoints of Interstate 290 are the Circle Interchange and I-90 interchange near Schaumburg and Rolling Meadows. Interstate 290 is a bypass freeway that gets motorists around most of the north side of the City of Chicago.
Jane Addams Memorial Tollway to Veterans Memorial Tollway "Route 53"
A seven-mile segment from Interstate 90 (Jane Addams Memorial Tollway) to Interstate 355 (Veterans Memorial Tollway) is often called Route 53 or I-290/IL-53. Officially, mile markers zero through four of Interstate 290 (southbound from Interstate 90) overlap Illinois Route 53. North of Interstate 90, Route 53 continues with the expressway north to Dundee Road (Route 68). The expressway continues north to a terminus at Lake Cook Road in Long Grove. Officially, the expressway has no route number from Dundee Road (Route 68) to Lake Cook Road, but it is often called Route 53. For example, even rescue calls for crashes in the area are still dispatched as Route 53 and Lake Cook Road. Officially Route 53 overlaps Route 68 and then Route 12 and Old Hicks Road in the area. None of those roadways are expressways.
Motorists heading southbound on this segment of Interstate 290 face the I-290/I-355 split. Eastbound Interstate 290 takes motorists to near west suburbs and downtown Chicago. Southbound I-355 takes motorists to far west suburbs, Interstate 88, Interstate 80 and southwest suburbs. Southbound I-355 also continues a full bypass of the City of Chicago to connect to central Illinois and southern Illinois via Interstate 80 and/or Interstate 57.
Interstate 290/IL53 runs mostly above-grade through Schaumburg, Elk Grove Village, and Rolling Meadows. Interstate 290/IL53 runs mostly below-grade through southern Elk Grove Village, Itasca, and Addison.
Eisenhower Extension
An eleven-mile extension connects motorists from the I-290/I-355 split near Addison, Illinois to I-294 near Hillside. The name "Eisenhower Extension" came to use when the Eisenhower Expressway was extended northwest from Hillside in the late 1970's.
The Eisenhower Extension runs largely at-grade or above-grade.
The Avenues
A seven-mile segment that connects Interstate-294 at Hillside to Austin Boulevard named for avenue crossroads numerically ascending from 1st Avenue near Forest Park/Maywood, and including exit ramps at 9th Avenue (Maywood), 17th Avenue (Maywood) and 25th Avenue (Maywood/Broadview). Westbound motorists face the I-88/I-290 split in "The Avenue" segment, which is also part of the Hillside Strangler where the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290), the Tri-State (I-294) and the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) connect.
In Maywood, 1st Avenue is just west of the Des Plaines River and is also known as Route 171.
Interstate 290 runs above grade west of Mannheim Road, and at or below grade east of Mannheim Road. The Mannheim Road interchange is about one mile east of the Hillside Strangler.
Chicago City Limit: Austin Boulevard to Chicago Loop
A seven-mile easternmost section of the Eisenhower Expressway connects the Chicago City limit at Austin Boulevard to the Chicago terminus at the Circle Interchange. Most exits on this segment are marked as A/B exits with on-ramps and off-ramps located about every two blocks. The segment is mostly below-grade.
Post Office
The post office is a landmark often used for traffic times from the Chicago terminus of I-290 to the suburbs. The former U.S. Postal Service building (closed in 1996) crosses over Congress Parkway just east of the I-290 terminus at the Circle Interchange.
The Eisenhower Expressway is also known as "the Ike" or the Eisenhower. The expressway is named after President Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower. "Ike" was an abbreviation for the Eisenhower name. Before being designated the Eisenhower Expressway, the roadway was called the Congress Expressway because of the surface street that was located approximately in its path and onto which I-290 runs at its eastern terminus in the Chicago Loop.
See also Wikipedia ...
Interstate 290 (Illinois)
Interstate 88 (west)
Interstate 90 in Illinois
Interstate 294
Interstate 355
Illinois Route 53
Circle Interchange
Dan Ryan Expressway
Kennedy Expressway
Blue Line (CTA)
Forest Park (CTA station)
Harlem (CTA Blue Line Congress branch station)
Oak Park (CTA Blue Line station)
Austin (CTA Blue Line station)
Central (CTA Congress Line station)
Cicero (CTA Blue Line Station)
Kostner (CTA Congress Line station)
Pulaski (CTA Blue Line station)
Kedzie–Homan (CTA station)
California (CTA Congress Line station)
Western (CTA Blue Line Congress branch station)
Illinois Medical District (CTA station)
Racine (CTA Blue Line station)
UIC–Halsted (CTA station)
Old Chicago Main Post Office
Congress Parkway
