Skip to main content

Dan Ryan Expressway (Interstate 90 and 94 in Chicago)

By
Recently while visiting the City of Chicago I drove the entirety of the Dan Ryan Expressway.


The Dan Ryan Expressway refers to a freeway section of Interstate 90 and Interstate 94 in Chicago.  The Dan Ryan Expressway is 11.47 miles in length and begins at junction of I-290 with I-90/I-94 in downtown Chicago.  The Dan Ryan Expressway is fully traversed southward by I-94 to a junction with I-57.  I-90 is only partially aligned on the Dan Ryan Expressway as it splits away from I-94 on the the Chicago Skyway Tollway.  The Dan Ryan Expressway is one of the busiest freeways in the country with daily traffic counts exceeding 300,000.

According to chicagoroads.com construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway began in 1958 when the first contract bids were accepted.  The first 3 mile portion of the Dan Ryan Expressway opened in 1961 with the majority of remaining alignment opening in 1962.  Interestingly I-90 was originally aligned on the entirety of the Dan Ryan Expressway whereas I-94 split onto the Chicago Skyway.  I-90 and I-94 swapped alignments in 1963.

chicagoroads.com on the Dan Ryan Expressway

Although I did clinch the Dan Ryan Expressway on my trip I did not clinch a single direction of travel.  My initial journey on the Dan Ryan Expressway was on I-90/I-94 east from the junction of I-290/Eisenhower Expressway at the end of the Kennedy Expressway (also I-90/I-94) in downtown Chicago.



The first major highway junction on I-90/I-94 east on the Dan Ryan Expressway is at I-55 at Exit 53.





Past the junction with I-55 the route of I-90/I-94 east on the Dan Ryan Expressway splits into Express Lanes and local lanes.  The Express Lane continues to Garfield Boulevard at Exit 57.  I stuck to the local lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway which passed by Comiskey Park which is home to the Chicago White Sox.










A new set of Express Lanes to 79th Street begin past Garfield Boulevard.  I stuck to the local lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway as the junction for I-90 east onto the Chicago Skyway isn't accessible from the Express Lanes.













On my departing trip from Chicago I took I-90 on the Chicago Skyway east towards the Indiana Toll Road.  Back in 2017 I visited both the Chicago Skyway and Indiana Toll Road.

Great Lakes Road Trip Day 10 Part 1; downtown Chicago, the end of US Route 66 and Chicago Skyway

Great Lakes Road Trip Day 10 Part 2; Indiana Toll Road, dunes and Ohio Turnpike

Upon my return to the Chicago Area I took I-94 west after I found out the Pullman neighborhood was recently declared a National Monument.  After leaving the Pullman neighborhood I rejoined the Dan Ryan Expressway on I-94 west at the terminus of I-57.


The view of downtown Chicago from the Dan Ryan Expressway in the cover photo of this blog was obtained from I-90/I-94 west approaching I-55.







Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...
4 comments
Read more

Massena Center Suspension Bridge

By
The Massena Center Bridge, also known as the Holton D. Robinson Bridge, has had quite the tumultuous history. Situated on the Grasse River just east of Massena, New York in the hamlet of Massena Center, the Massena Center Bridge is a reminder of the efforts the community has made in order to connect over the river. The first and only other known bridge to be built at Massena Center was built in 1832, but that bridge was never long for this world. During the spring of 1833, the Grasse River dammed itself due to an ice dam, flooded and lifted the bridge off its foundation, destroying the bridge in the process.  The floods were frequent in the river during the spring, often backing up the river from Hogansburg and past Massena Center, but not to nearby Massena. After the first bridge disappeared, local residents had to resort to traveling seven miles west to Massena to cross the next closest bridge, and that was no easy task for a horse and buggy. However, it was many decades befo...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Dead Man's Curve of Interstate 90 and Innerbelt Freeway in Cleveland

By
"Dead Man's Curve" refers to the transition ramp Interstate 90 takes between Cleveland Memorial Shoreway onto the Innerbelt Freeway in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  Said curve includes a sharp transition between the two freeways which is known for a high rate of accidents.  Currently the curve (not officially named) has a 35 MPH advisory speed and numerous safety features intended to mitigate crashes.  When the Interstate System was first conceived during 1956, Interstate 90 was intended to use the entirety Cleveland Memorial Shoreway and connect to the Northwest Freeway through Lakewood.  The Innerbelt Freeway was initially planned as the northernmost segment of Interstate 71.  The extension of Cleveland Memorial Shoreway west of Edgewater Park was never constructed which led to Interstate 90 being routed through the Innerbelt Freeway.   Part 1; the history of Cleveland's Innerbelt Freeway and Deadman's Curve The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was signe...
Post a Comment
Read more