DAN RYAN EXPRESSWAY

The 'Dan Ryan Expressway' runs from the Circle Interchange with I-290 near downtown Chicago through the south side of the city. It is designated as both Interstate 90 and Interstate 94 north of 66th Street, and only Interstate 94 south of its connection with the Chicago Skyway near 66th Street. This is a distance of about 9 miles (14 km).^[1]
On an average day, over 300,000 vehicles use part of the Dan Ryan (2003 data).^[2] The Dan Ryan and its North Side extension, the Kennedy Expressway, are the busiest roads in Illinois. Utilizing an express-local system, the Dan Ryan has fourteen lanes of traffic, seven in each direction, with four of those express lanes and the other three providing access to exits. Despite its width, the Dan Ryan is prone to traffic jams. The Dan Ryan's express-local system is similar to that of Toronto's Highway 401.
As with the Kennedy Expressway, the posted directions on the Dan Ryan are different than the actual compass direction of the expressway, which causes confusion to many travelers. The Dan Ryan for its entire 12 mile length runs north and south. However the Dan Ryan is just a very small part of Interstates 90 and 94, which are signed as east-west routes. Therefore, one who is traveling "west" on I-90/94 is actually driving north on the Dan Ryan; similarly, "east" is really south. Chicagoans typically refer to the directions of travel as "inbound" and "outbound" from downtown.
The Dan Ryan was opened in 1962 and named for Dan Ryan, Jr., the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. During planning stages it was also known as the 'South Route Expressway'. [1]
The Red Line of the Chicago Transit Authority runs in the median of the Dan Ryan. That section opened on August 24, 1969.
The control cities for the Dan Ryan Expressway are Indiana and Chicago Loop.
In 1988-1989, the northern three miles of the Dan Ryan, known as the 'Elevated Bridge', were completely reconstructed.^[3] Construction again commenced in 2006 on the Dan Ryan. This two-year construction project is the most massive expressway construction plan in Chicago history.
Over 2½ miles of continuous high-rise housing projects (Stateway Gardens and the Robert Taylor Homes) formerly lined the east side of the freeway from 35th Street south to Garfield (55th Street). However, nearly all of these buildings have been vacated and demolished as part of the CHA's transformation plan.

Contents

Exit list

External resources

References

Exit list

The entire route is in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.

Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
	51H-I	Interstate 290 (Eisenhower Expy) — West Suburbs Congress Parkway - Chicago Loop	Westbound thru traffic signed as — Kennedy Expressway — Milwaukee. Circle Interchange. The common split for exits 51H-I is in the vicinity of Roosevelt Road.
	52A-B	Taylor St/Roosevelt Rd	With WB exits for Taylor and Roosevelt combined, the current exit is signed as exit 52A eastbound, 52B westbound. Access from the Eisenhower Expressway is from the left of the ramp from the Eisenhower to Dan Ryan.
	52C	18th St	Eastbound Exit only, Westbound entrance only
	53	I-55 (Stevenson Expy) - St. Louis, Lake Shore Drive	Eastbound POV
	53A	Canalport Ave, Cermak Rd	Eastbound entrance only, Westbound exit only
	53B	I-55 (Stevenson Expy) - St. Louis	Westbound POV
Express lanes begin eastbound, end westbound
	53C	I-55 (Stevenson Expy) - Lake Shore Drive; Cermak Rd	Westbound POV Also known as the Chinatown Connector, as the northbound expressway stub from this exit ends at Cermak Road in the Chinatown neighborhood.
	54	31st St
	55A	35th St	Illinois Institute of Technology; Chicago White Sox (U.S. Cellular Field)
	55B	Pershing Rd
	56A	43rd St
	56B	47th St	Converted to full interchange; ramps at 51st eliminated.[4]
47th St Slip - shifts to and from Express lanes to Local Lanes
	57B	Garfield Blvd	Museum of Science and Industry; University of Chicago
	58A	59th St	Westbound exit only, eastbound entrance only. Other ramps were eliminated.[5]
	59A	Slip lane from eastbound express lanes to local lanes for access to Chicago Skyway
	58B	63rd St	Eastbound exit only, Westbound entrance only
	59A	Chicago Skyway (Toll) - To Indiana Toll Rd	Eastbound exit only, Westbound entrance only. Eastbound ramp is from the left local lane.
	59B	Marquette Road	Westbound exit, eastbound entrance. Westbound access to Interstate 90 East (Chicago Skyway) via State Street.
Westbound split into express and local lanes
	59C	71st Street
Eastbound express and local lanes merge
	60A	75th Street	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
	60B	76th Street	Westbound exit, eastbound entrance
	60C	79th Street
	61A	83rd Street	Westbound entrance, eastbound exit.
	61B	87th Street (8700 South)
	62	U.S. Routes 12/20 — 95th Street	Westbound entrance, eastbound exit.
	63	Interstate 57 South — Memphis, Tennessee	Southern terminus of the Dan Ryan Expressway. Older maps show Dan Ryan West Leg proceeding south on I-57. EB I-94 turns east onto the Bishop Ford Freeway. Exit to Wentworth Ave. to the right of the I-57 ramp; entrance from 99th St. and Michigan Ave. on westbound Bishop Ford ramp to the Dan Ryan.

External resources

★ Dan Ryan Expressway Reconstruction Project

★ Illinois Highways

References

1. Rand McNally. "The Road Atlas '04: United States, Canada and Mexico". Skokie: Rand McNally and Company. 2004.
2. Illinois Department of Transportation traffic data
3. Hilkevitch, John. Buckle up, it looks like a long ride. ''Chicago Tribune''. Published March 26, 2006. Retrieved March 26, 2006.
4. Massive Dan Ryan reconstruction looms, Red Line overhaul continues
5. DanRyanExpressway.com Expressway Map