ILLINOIS ROUTE 4

'Illinois Route 4' is a long state road that runs south from the Interstate 55 business loop around Springfield south to Illinois Route 13 just north of Murphysboro. This is a distance of about 160 miles (257 km).^[1]

Contents

Route description

Historical designation

Cities of Service

External links

References

Route description

Illinois 4 in Springfield is known as Veterans Parkway. It completes the western loop around the city of Springfield, and is a divided four-lane highway that serves Springfield commercial areas.
The portion of Illinois 4 between Springfield and just north of Hamel was part of the original run of U.S. Route 66 from 1926-1930. When the Route 66 was moved to the east in 1930, Illinois 4 retained its designation, the number of the original state bond issue route (SBI 4.)^[2]
The section from Illinois Route 143 near Marine to the southern end near Murphysboro was originally IL 43. During the mid 1960s, IL 4 was extended on this highway and IL 43 was eventually reused in the Chicago area.
It is also worth noting that IL 4 is in Washington County for less than one mile, on the southwest corner near the unincorporated town of Clarmin, along with IL 13.

Historical designation

A bypassed portion of old route 4 north of Auburn is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as "Illinois Route 4-North of Auburn". It was added in 1998 as structure #98000979 and consists of two c.1920 bridges over Little Panther Creek and portions of Curran and Snell roads. One section is a c.1932 1.53 mile long brick road and the other is a c.1921 Portland cement road 16 feet wide and 1,277 ft long.^[3]

Cities of Service

★ Springfield

★ Carlinville

★ Virden

★ Auburn

★ Chatham

★ Staunton

★ Marine

★ Lebanon

★ Mascoutah

★ Fayetteville

★ St. Libory

★ Marissa

★ Sparta

★ Murphysboro

External links

★ Illinois Highway Ends: Illinois Route 4

References

1. Rand McNally. "The Road Atlas '04: United States, Canada and Mexico". Skokie: Rand McNally and Company. 2004.
2. History & Evolution of the Illinois Numbered Highway System
3. http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/PDFs/205601.pdf