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When you said least travelled, I was like nah, I-115 in Butte, MT has to be the least travelled, it's only a mile long in a once great but decaying mining town, then I looked up the statistics and I-115 sees on average 4,058 cars per day, this just really put into perspective to me how unused I-180 is. Good video man, looking forward to more from you.
Actually, what most people today don't realize is that the Interstate Highway system was originally intended for use by the US military to get quickly from one part of the country to another, a la the German Autobahn system. If you overlay a map of all the US military bases in 1956 with a map of the original plans for the Interstate Highway system, you'll see that, with VERY few exceptions, all US military bases were within 10 miles of an Interstate Highway AND there was an interchange in that vicinity.
Very true, it comes from the bad experience Près. Eisenhower had in WWI when trying to move materiel and troops across the country upon mobilization. The U.S. Routes where very inefficient to that undertaking.
I-189 in Burlington, VT is only a mile long, but it actually gets a decent amount of traffic. There's an unfinished section, though, that's been rotting for decades now. There has been proposal after proposal to finish the highway but every proposal ends up getting tied up in court by residents of the area where the traffic would spill out into.
The actual name of the Federal Highway Bill for 1956 was the, "National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956)". But the part most talked about to the public at the time was the justification as possible evacuation/support routes in the event of national emergency or attack. This rationale was far more public in speeches by then President Eisenhower, VP Nixon and later summarized into the Clay Committee record for Congress. But yes connection to military base was in fact part of the original justification and planning model.
@@jamescrane4050 Proof of my statement is that I-95 doesn't follow the east coast as I-5 does. Just north of the state line of South Carolina and Georgia, it veers away from the coast and, in North Carolina, it passes very close to Fort Bragg then it veers back toward the coast. The odd thing to me about this is that, if it continued to follow the coast, it would pass very close to about 4 other military bases. I guess Fayetteville had more political clout than Jacksonville and Cherry Point.
Indeed. One of the best places to see it in the start point of H3 in Hawai'i -- it start at the entrance to the Marine Corps in the Mokapu peninsula on the island of O'ahu.
Gudmund "Sonny" Jessen was a local farmer who served in the military during the Korean conflict. He took it upon himself to get involved in many local civic organizations, and for many years, was the township Clerk for Hennepin Township. The state legislature honored Mr. Jessen in 2007 by naming the I-180 bridge after him.
I actually take this road to work in Princeton all the time! It is a quiet interstate drive, but the road is in disrepair as you said. Grain trucks will sometimes use it to get to the grain elevators in Hennepin, as that is a major area for shipping grain on the Illinois River. Hennepin also has one of North America's largest ethanol plants located nearby. There's actually a lot of industry in that area in addition to the steel.
A few?! Try I80 has about 100,000 bushels of grain move down it DAILY. That's at least 100 semis, probably double that in actuality. It is THE major highway from the north to the largest ethanol plant IN THE NATION
"The worst state of any interstate in the country" That seriously looks as smooth as a baby's buttocks compared to some Michigan highways I've broken my car's suspension on.
I actually knew Gudmund "Sonny" Jessen before he passed. He fought to allow farm equipment traffic to cross the river on that bridge, which is not normally allowed on the interstate unless the equipment is on a truck, since the old route 26/71 bridge was condemned and demolished, one of the 2 large scale demolitions in that small town. The way it works is you can get on the interstate where it ends right at Hennepin but you have to get off at the first exit which is old route 26 and vice versa. This allowed farmers who farmed on both sides of the river to easily cross thus they named the bridge to honor what he did to help the local farmers, at least that is what I was told. I can attest that it is one of the worst roads to drive on, from a ride quality standpoint, in Illinois. The bridge was redecked a couple of years ago and if I recall correctly it was not done very well.
There is much more to the story of Gudmund Jessen. I am glad you had the chance to meet him. He was my grandfather. But yes, he did put up one big fight to allow farm machinery to travel the bridge. The bridge was totally redone from 2020 to finish in fall of 2022. It is now a very nice bridge!
Couple of other key points about I-180. There was a big push in the 1950s for a north/south Interstate route to traverse the length of IL, without going through Chicago, to be added to the original Interstate Highway System. It was to basically run from near Springfield, IL to Beloit, WI. In the 11th hour the Feds killed the route and the original plan was put in play. Those IL lawmakers that were ignored ten years earlier all chipped in to getting the I-180 project built, pretty much as outlined in your video. The second phase of I-180 was to run adjacent to IL 29 on the east side of the Illinois River and run into Peoria. Early engineering studies showed that unstable ground, and corresponding floodplain of the river, would’ve meant a highway on piers. The cost would’ve been staggering. While that was going on, a few miles farther south, the same group was planning a section of highway south of Peoria to join with I-180. Engineering was competed and land was purchased. (That section would become I-155 decades later.) There were a host of engineering projects for I-180 north of I-80 in the early 1970s. An uncle of mine worked for the IL DOT and was a part of those projects. Engineering was complete on section of roadway between I-80 and Harmon, IL. Never quite making it to Sterling, IL. However, the only land that was actually purchased was just east of Walnut, IL so the new road could interchange with IL 92. (The interchange was never built.) While all this was going on there was a renewed interest in getting a north/south Interstate completed as quickly as possible. IL legislators were growing tired of the DOT dragging its feet in coming up with a way to make the original I-180 concept work in the floodplain of the Illinois River north of Peoria. So they pulled the funding and basically killed the project. Within a year the focus shifted east to the new highway gobbling up much of US 51. Engineering was completed in record time, and construction began in 1980 on what would be I-39.
I-39 didn't get finished, either. It was to be the down-the-middle highway. Picking up in Rockford off of I-90, it went straight south to Bloomington/Normal and terminates there. It was supposed to go around the cities, again picking up 51 off of I-74 on the south side, and go south to Decatur. Didn't happen, but there is a nicely-graded interchange just west of 51 on I-72 in Decatur which it was supposed to use. 39 and 51 were again to loop around Decatur, and about 15-20 miles of freeway and expressway were built south of Decatur. But it reduces to the original two-lane 51 near Pana, and that's it. Except for it's terminus, I-57's 'interchange to nowhere' east of Cairo. Designed to divert truck traffic away from Chicago.
3:44 The problem is: Bridges mostly only just then collapses when there is an initial force starting the collapsing effect. So its most likely that the bridge will collapse when there is most likely a vehicle (probably a loaded truck) on the bridge.
I grew up near 1-180, and I always wondered why it existed, and everyone says because of the old steel plant. It is a great road for speeding (like really fast, 140-150 mph) since it's an interstate with no traffic and little law enforcement. Others have commented that running it all the way to Peoria would make sense, but it's unlikely it will ever happen.
I’m from Peoria and go to school in North MO so I drive both these interstates all the time! They are really wacky, but honestly they’re really helpful sometimes. You get to drive really fast through an empty, but beautiful area. Still probably a waste of money, and Peoria still can’t get a full ring road 😓
You'll never believe this. Being from Southern Illinois, I can promise you that these pictures of I-180 make it look like it fits right in with other IL roads. If anything, it is probably better than our roads down here.
2:41 "Look at this picture I'm showing you right now, you can see that there are cracks everywhere and it's by far the worst condition interstate in the country" looks like your average road in Il to me
Well, obviously it's not going to be maintained as well as an interstate in the Chicago metro area, nor should it be given the lower amount of traffic.
Yup, here in southern Illinois nothing but pot holes, and cracks. And what does the city doe besides fix the road. The decide to fix the sidewalk instead.
Michigan too. I left in 1984 and all the highways were fresh and smooth and beautiful. I came back in 1997 and all the highways looked like that picture. I hope by now they fixed it up a bit. I'm in Florida and they are constantly redoing the roads. When finished they're beautiful but the year of construction is a pain.
@@constancegreiner906 FL can't keep up with widening roads, adding turn lanes and traffic signals fast enough as traffic counts increase as the population continues explode.
being from illinois, that looks to be about the average condition for a road in the state. also, it's... eerily close, like i could go for a drive there if i wanted to (and i didn't care about how much gas cost lmfao) and the fact that the other interstate you mentioned in IL was in my HOMETOWN (until 2009 lol) is just extra funny
Presumably, this would be the IDEAL road for, hypothetically, testing how fast your motorcycle could go if you were so inclined, theoretically. My 2004 Yamaha FZ6, for example, allegedly, tops out at 143 (GPS confirmed, speculatively).
You are absolutely correct. I grew up around there and I've topped out practically every car and motorcycle I've ever owned on I-180, BMW M3, Honda VFR (150 MPH+). The road isn't in the best shape, but hardly any traffic.
As a resident of Illinois, I can say that image of I-180 looks better than most other roads here. 🤣 Been on it a few times and there is less traffic than many two lane county roads.
Interstate 172 exists because interstate 72 used to end in Springfield IL at I-55. in the 1990s I172 was proposed for the extended road from Springfield to Quincy, but it was given I72 instead, and what is now I172 was built as IL 336. Eventually it settled out as it stands. 172 wasn't built with federal funds and is at least better than i180 for that. Eventually 72 was extended to US36 in MO, and will one day be extended to I35 in MO. 172 exists to connect the main line road to US24 and bypass hannibal for traffic heading to US61.
I-172 also forms part of what has been designated the Chicago-Kansas City Expressway, where existing roads in northern Missouri and western Illinois have been upgraded to divided highways in order to provide an alternate long-haul trucking route between the two cities that bypasses St. Louis.
I drive this quite often, it’s true that the steel plant was the main reason for this bridge, it’s currently used by grain trucks to haul to the ethanol plant directly next door to where the steel plant used to be. Moreover, there’s several loading and unloading points for grain to barge traffic. The road is in pretty awful condition, but it’s constantly under construction. The state is currently repairing the bridge decking.
I came to be educated about an interstate highway that appears to fit perfectly in a liminal space compilation video and ended up simping for a VERY handsomely dressed beaver fursona. I am not disappointed!
There is an I-180 in Cheyenne WY that isn’t even a freeway! It has traffic lights! There are so many places that deserve an interstate much more than these two places! I agree with you about I-172. Bakersfield and Fresno California are huge and the towns in between need an interstate! California 99 mostly if not wholly meets interstate standards already and should be signed as Interstate 7 or 9 right now and have a few spurs as well. I-40 should receive its long rumored extension over California 58 to at least Interstate 5 if not all the way to the coast along California 46 and a brief concurrency with I-5 and make it the fourth coast to coast interstate, along with interstates 10, 80, and 90. While I’m at it, how about using US 50 to extend Interstate 70 to Sacramento California?
There is no legitimate need to extend I-70 beyond I-15 in Utah. That was the original plan for I-70. As for California Route 99, it could be either redesignated US Route 99 or the proposed I-9 put forward by CALTRANS.
So I180 is part of the perposed interstate of Chicago to Kansas City. Just look at I474 near Peoria il with abruptly ends near Chillicothe, or all the new construction near Macomb going to quincy IL. Couldn't tell of any work in Missouri. This interstate idea has been in deliberation since the birth of the interstate system, especially since western IL and Northern Missouri have no real interstate service.
@@bryantint1339 rebuilding it to "interstate standards" in other words to the standards needed to support a large amount of vehicles simultaneously, he saying the bridge should be rebuilt to modern safety standards as a two lane. Perfectly justifiable since the bridge only deals with the car on average every 2.5 minutes, that's in both directions combined, in a single direction it would be a avg of 1 every 5 minutes... Go into the middle of your city to any two lane road and see how many cars you count and going past you and a single direction in 5 minutes, we're in both directions every two and a half minutes, I guarantee it's way more, probably by 20 times at minimum
Years ago, Illinois had a toll road, the East-West Tollway, that was identified as Illinois Route 5. In the early 80s, it was changed to Interstate 88. It wasn't about federal funding. The Illinois Tollway system pays for the building of new toll roads and maintaining the existing roads. But, when Congress allowed rural stretches of highways to have speed limits greater than 55mph, it was limited to the Interstate System. So, Illinois got Illinois 5 changed to I-88, in order to get the speed limit for the stretch from Aurora to the Iowa state line raised.
Originally there were plans to run I-180 to Peoria. In fact, there is a "ghost" interchange north of peoria that was intended for the highway but never used or finished.
@@VPMore No, I see it via satellite. Just a portion of the interchange allowing connection to IL 29 is in service, but you can see the remnant north of there.
This reminds me of I-110 in Baton Rouge. I can see how it used to be useful in the 1970s, when the nicer areas and affluent suburbs were located along the 110 Corridor. But the area has gotten really rough now, and crime rates have skyrocketed. Hardly anybody takes this route out of the city. The only uses it really serves is connecting downtown (which I-10 already does), and providing access to the airport and the city-suburb of Zachary.
The only thing even more crazy that I've heard of, also thanks to UA-cam, are Parliamentary Trains in the UK. Because it takes an act of Parliament to close down a train line, it is actually cheaper to run one of these trains, once a week, just to keep up with 'procedures'.
Your information is wrong. The steel mill ran pretty much continuously from the late 60’s into the 2000’s. (It did change ownership during that time.) Also, a decade or so ago they closed the bridge over the Illinois river just south of the Interstate bridge so they rerouted the local road traffic on to the interstate bridge. It is now the only bridge for at least 10 miles North or South.
First time watcher. First time commenter. This is an awesome channel. Love how you outline the different geographical issues/solutions. You could see what a MESS the trans Canada Highway is.
I lived most of my life in Peoria, where there is a little spur that goes north and ends at road closed signs (Route 6, a large divided highway that isn't part of the interstate system). It was always my impression that the original plan for the Peoria spur was to go all the way up to Hennepin and connect to I-180, but I have no idea if that's true.
I think you're right, at the triangle interchange on I-180 going straight leads towards Peoria and it hastily shrinks from 6 lanes to 2, as if it was intended to be a freeway connection as well.
Probably like 355 had all of those bridge supports just sitting for years just waiting for them to be like, okay lets finish that highway now that its like 30 years later and they finally brought 355 down from I-55 to I-80. maybe in another hundred years when population grows it will happen lol.
Peoria native here. Route 6 was freaky. Learned to drive on that stretch of road. There are idot studies that wanted to link 180 to Peoria. It would’ve saved about 30 min on a trip to Chicago.
Unfortunately for Peoria like most cities in Illinois are shrinking and Chicago area black hole swallows most of the money that could be used to help out other cities in Illinois to turn around population loss. Or you could do like me and move out of Illinois
Looks like it was planned to continue going southwards to Peoria. If you look at Hwy 6, it just dead ends northbound at an interchange to Mossville and the Caterpillar plant and looks like it would have serve as a bypass of Hwy 29.
Honestly, check out some of Connecticut’s unfinished highways. There’s lots of interesting stories and abrupt endings like Rt. 25, I-290, or most famously, Rt. 11. There were just a lot of unfinished and coincidentally badly timed constructions on some roads (which would be pretty helpful for a good chunk of commuters) here. Also, I enjoy this channel. Lots of great, and very interesting content. 👍
Yes. Bridgeport to Monroe is a 6 lane expressway. Monroe till around Newtown is a 2 lane road. (It would have gone all the way, but I guess money was cut back in the 80’s)
@@randomfoxyfan2176 Used to bike up around there, from the Merritt in N Bridgeport to Monroe. I also remember the never ending saga of Route 7 going from Norwalk to Danbury. Last time I was there, it abruptly ended in South Wilton. When I was really young, I remembered that it only went from I-95 for about a mile and a half north to New Canaan Ave.
Hey, somebody else in the world that has heard of Rt. 11! Halted in 1975 due to lack of funding, then ignored due to a general lack of interest in Southeast CT's welfare. It wasn't that big of an issue up until the late 1990s, because there weren't as many cars driving through back then. Now it's a "dead issue," with 20-25,000 cars and semis rolling through small towns on a daily basis, on a two-lane road (CT-85). Very few detours when accidents happen, all poor detours for the traffic density, and plenty of secondary accidents as semis and cars try to negotiate down bumpy, twisty, hilly backroads barely wide enough for two riding lawn mowers to pass by. Cars have to watch for falling branches as semis rip them off the trees overhead.
I was in a discussion with fellow SimCity 4 players on this very topic, we were examining the metropolitan area of Hartford Connecticut, and found a grand total of 4 interstates, 2 US highways and 10 state highways that were supposed to form the city's freeway network but got cancelled!
Thanks for using a Fox River image at the end! Really enjoyed seeing Green Bay. Love from Wisconsin and you just got a sub with the high quality videos.
We have a highway like that at the State level in Ohio: It's called the Appalachian Highway, or more properly, the "James A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway." Jim Rhodes was quite a controversial character. He promised his hometown Coalton that they would get a highway. And one IMPORTANT thing about Jim, he ALWAYS delivered on his promises, no matter WHAT side of the politics anyone else stood on. You DO have to give him that.... My kids called it "the road to nowhere". (They also called the Pennsylvania Turnpike "The Land of the Orange Barrels" and you know something? That's not only OBSERVANT for children, it's still pretty much True Today!) So there's another highway that you might do a video on. And in these here FIFTY Pork Barrel States? I'll bet that with a little research, you'll find PLENTY of similar roads with similar histories. Politicians don't change. I'm CERTAIN that is was like that when they put in the Ohio Canal, and the railroads after that. All the Best! DE W8LV BILL
The most missing interstate is the stretch between Phoenix Arizona and Las Vegas Nevada. There is only a two lane filled bumper to bumper daily between two of the most growing cities in the US.
180 was created for semis to haul heavy loads from the hennepin steel mill up to i80 for easy transport. Taking the highway through Henry takes forever. The steel mill is closed and this road is seldom used. Making it a popular spot for racing, which is why police hang out on it. Illinois has talked for years about making it a 2 lane highway due to unfounded maintenance costs. Source- I grew up in the area
I've been on here before completing I-80 through Illinois. I too was confused at the lack of traffic as well as how small the town is that it terminates in.
I-180 should've been built further south, than just to Hennepin for one or 2 local plants there. To me, sounds like someone powerful in Congress or the Senate, twisted the federal government's arms enough in getting that project approved long ago! Anyway to me, it's crazy this expressway doesn't run further south to at least Peoria, if you ask me. Also, I'd consider an extension south and west to St. Louis, to provide an alternate route to the very congested I-55.
from reading other comments apparent it was suppose to terminate in peuro but due to issues on funding as well issues with wet lands and politcial pressure they never finsihed it and rather not waste money went in favor of the politicians idea to end it into the steal town putting what ever little funding they had left into it
this inspired me to take a drive on 180 to hennepin and it’s a super nice drive and hennepin is a very nice town with a cool beach on the illinois river
This spur route went to service the now closed steel mill that was situated at the end of the Interstate. It was put in for easy semi truck access and now just gets me to I-80 really fast.
I see the older bridge shown to the south of the current one in your video has been taken down. Google Maps labels its old western connection as Old SR 26, now ending at Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. Presumably its eastern connection was High St. in Hennepin. Street View doesn't give an option to time travel earlier than its current Aug. 2019 shots from either side. Any idea what condition the old bridge was in?
One thing missing from this video is the relationship between I-180 and State Highway 6 in Peoria, which ends abruptly by Mossville. It seems obvious that the intention was to eventually build a freeway that extends from Peoria to I-80, incorporating most of the original route of I-180. This would provide a more direct connection between Peoria and Chicago (compared to I-74 and I-55 through Bloomington-Normal).
man i live a couple hours south of i-180 and am a map nerd hence why i found your channel. I have thought the same thing it seems so pointless it forms kind of a square of interstates in the middle of Illinois. I-39 already travels north south 10 miles away from it
But I-39 didn't exist yet when I-180 was built. I-39 was built during Jim Thompson''s administration to replace U.S. 51 between Bloomington-Normal and Rockford.
They really should extend I-39 southwards to I-57 just north of Salem IL… you can very well trust there’s enough trucking traffic that would actually be thankful for a north/south that doesn’t go through congested Greater Chicagoland or even St. Louis if they want to avoid any major metropolitan areas between Wisconsin/Minnesota and the entire Deep South…
@@schwenda3727 never thought about that but that does make sense! There is a lot more truck traffic on 57 than there is on 55. They probably would enjoy an interstate around chicago like that
@@idontgiveoutname3122 - All of the other possibilities were in use already, although Route 480 has since been de-commissioned and de-mapped. It could be re-designated as 480 today, which was used for the Embracadero Freeway before it was torn down.
There was one time I drove across the Illinois River on I-180 going into Hennepin, and they had work going on on the EB lanes over the river, so they made it a one lane road across on the WB bridge. Not one lane in each direction, just one lane, with flaggers on each side. This is probably the only interstate you could probably get away with that on. Aside from that, yeah this interstate is always dead on traffic. It's about the interstate I can drive on with my brights on and rarely have to turn them down. I live about 10 miles away from it so I travel it from time to time.
The entire answer to why this highway was built was shown in the picture of the Senator requesting it: Everette Dirksen was the second most powerful politician in Washington in the 1960's, right behind Lyndon Baines Johnson. If Senator Dirksen wanted a Federal highway to his home town, you damn well know that it was going to be built.
The 72 extension to the Mississippi wasn't completed until around 1990. The spur to Quincy is likely because Quincy has 2 reasonable highway bridges (Hannibal is a tourist town and WAY off the beaten path. Quincy isn't much, but it is the largest town west of Springfield (the Capital), so I don't know why they took a southern route west there (55 being the way to St. Louis, from Springpatch). It WAS very handy for driving to college when I went to Truman State (at that time Northeast Missouri State) in Kirksville. That school draws a LOT of kids from Springfield (and has for decades) so who knows. Apparently, Missouri is extending 72 cross-state (aiming for Kansas City, and to tie in a lot of tiny towns in the in-between). If you are looking for weird Illinois Highway stuff. There's the "Ghost ramp" for highway 39 just North of Decatur on I-72.
There have been some proposals to extend I-180 down to Peoria, which would be more useful. For now, though, it's just a pretty little detour near Princeton, Illinois.
I always was confused, why I-180 wasn't extended southward to Peoria myself! Would've been a great idea way back when this was constructed, to have built it further southward to Peoria. Maybe even extend it southward to St. Louis, as well to provide an alternate route for drivers to use instead of I-55?
Interstate 794 up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a short freeway from Downtown Milwaukee to just south of the Hoan Bridge and continues on as Wisconsin State Highway 794. For years I-794 ended at a incomplete bridge known as the bridge to nowhere and was featured in the Blues Brothers movie during the car chase. Look it up in you think I am wrong. Also look into I-535 up in Duluth, Minn and Superior, Wisconsin area. Either one would be great to do a video on.
@@Pantsinabucket Yes that is true that bridge was on the Blues Brothers. That was at the beginning of the movie however at the end of the Nazi chase there was a scene that was filmed in Milwaukee
@@Pantsinabucket I am talking about the bridge where the Nazis fall off. Thst is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I did not believe it, but I look it up and sure enough the scene was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where the nazis fall off the bridge.
Interesting that this video came up in my recommendeds as I live in St Louis and was planning on taking a day trip tomorrow up to Quincy which involves taking I-172.
I live about an hour west of I-180 in IL, and have driven it a few times. It is definitely a bit eerie to drive. I like open road without much other traffic, but it is awkwardly dead.
I live near there, and I use I-180 as a way to bypass Princeton if I'm going north or south. It is eerily empty for the most part. I always thought it was originally meant to go to Peoria but never made it for some reason.
As an Illinoisan who was alive in 1969 (though I have never lived anywhere near Hennepin), I can add a few details you left out. The member of Congress you showed in your video was Everett Dirksen, the US Senate Minority Leader in the 1960's, and a resident of nearby Pekin. He died in 1969, the same year I-180 was opened. Ironically, he was famously quoted as saying about government waste, "A billion here, a billion there; pretty soon, you're talking about real money." However, in assessing Dirksen's political career as a whole, we must thank him for his efforts in getting the Republican members of Congress to support both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. (In fact, a higher percentage of Republicans than of Democrats supported those landmark laws.)
@Account NumberEight Sadly, you are correct. The Dirksen-led support for civil rights in the 1960's was the last time the GOP backed civil rights. Since then, except for Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Party of Lincoln has devolved into the party of opposition to civil rights.
I traveled this interstate yesterday! One thing you left out in this video was that there are signs along I-80 that advertise that I-180 takes you straight to Peoria. It sort of does, which connects you to Illinois Route 29, which parallels the Illinois River and goes 48 miles straight to Peoria (from IL 29 exit). You got the part right where it is very much lonely. I must have counted at least 8 other cars on the freeway (most of them going northbound; I was going southbound). Yes, the road is battered with a few potholes here and there but I've driven on worse interstates. As far as the pretty drive, it is mostly trees and woods in the landscape so its gets boring after one minute. There was construction work at the bridge, which put both lanes down to one, but there were no workers outside. I'm not sure how often they work on the Jensen Bridge. Overall, this is a pointless Interstate spur indeed. Great video!
I remember driving down this interstate on my way to Peoria IL with a friend, we both questioned the need for it too, it was pretty interesting how desolate it was
You should look at the Blue Hills extension in Bloomfield, CT. It's extremely short, yes it branches off to different routes but it ultimately just leads to Avon and that's it
I-180 is convenient if you are going to Peoria on Hwy 29 or to Lake Thunderbird. It’s great for learning how to highway drive though that’s where I first drove on.
Oh dang! You blew right past that 100k mark in the week since you posted this 🙌🙌🙌 *EDIT* After watching the full video, I can see why! I thoroughly enjoyed this video 🤗
There is an "Interstate" about 20 miles from my house that goes about 4 miles (if that) off of Interstate 5 in Tacoma, WA. That's I-705 and it jumps off of I-5 and goes just into downtown Tacoma. I wonder if that is shorter than the one you depict here?
I used to live in Tacoma and could hop onto 705 within minutes from where my house was. It was really nice for getting downtown quickly. I think it was once supposed to go further south of I-5 along an abandoned railroad line but terminates at a cloverleaf on 38th instead.
Just for the record, there is a system in place for numbering interstate highways. The 2 digit highways are the main roads you know and love. (Just think of I-5 having a zero in front). Even numbers are east-west directions of travel, like I-10 & I-70. The larger the number, generally the further north in the USA. The general direction is an east-west orientation. The odd numbers are north-south, like I-95, I-5, and I-35. The higher the number, the further east. The 3 digit interstates are spurs or loops off of 2 digit main roads. If the first digit is odd, that highway is a spur heading away from the main road (in any direction) and does not intersect with the main road again. Like in this video, I-180 leads away from I-80 and seemingly deadends. If it starts with an even number, it's a loop highway that leaves the main road and meets up or crosses it again somewhere else. Like I-410 in San Antonio loops around the entire city, crossing I-10 two times. Anyways, the leading odd numbered 3 digit spur should, and was meant to just end somewhere. :)
It was originally added to support LTV Steel in Hennepin, which was at the end of the route. They built it to support the trucks to get the steel on I-80. LTV closed about a year ago. Also, it was going to connect to Peoria but after several studies over the years it was never feasible to connect peoria to I-80
I've always wondered about this spur. I rationalized it by assuming it was a way to cross the Illinois river and that it may ones day connect to Peoria.
An interesting, but very important time saving, little spur route is I-865 northwest of Indianapolis. Because of the orientation of I-65 to I-465 on the west side, I-865 connects 465 west to 65 north to Chicago as well as 65 south to 465 east to points along the north side of Indy. There are no other interchanges along the approximately 4 mile stretch.
I was glad when picking up a load at the rubbermaid I believe made it so much better and it is a pretty drive and relaxed drive and despite it looking bad it is actually a smooth drive at least in 2013 the last time I drove on it
If you are seeing this, PLEASE consider subscribing to the channel! Basically everyone here just found the channel and isn’t subscribed, so if everyone seeing this subscribed, you could quite literally make my lifelong dream reality.
I love ur lisp
You got a sub from me.
Cool, just did subscribe
Don't get absorbed by the UA-cam AI and sometimes flesh overlords, that would be very unfortunate.
Otherwise a quit entertaining video.
When you said least travelled, I was like nah, I-115 in Butte, MT has to be the least travelled, it's only a mile long in a once great but decaying mining town, then I looked up the statistics and I-115 sees on average 4,058 cars per day, this just really put into perspective to me how unused I-180 is. Good video man, looking forward to more from you.
Same for I759, it is only 4 miles long and serves a city of 30k people that is declining, I think due to the steel industry
Where is I-759?
@@interstate1335 northeastern Alabama
@@interstate1335 it's in gadsden al, a small city with lots of crime
Ok
Actually, what most people today don't realize is that the Interstate Highway system was originally intended for use by the US military to get quickly from one part of the country to another, a la the German Autobahn system. If you overlay a map of all the US military bases in 1956 with a map of the original plans for the Interstate Highway system, you'll see that, with VERY few exceptions, all US military bases were within 10 miles of an Interstate Highway AND there was an interchange in that vicinity.
Very true, it comes from the bad experience Près. Eisenhower had in WWI when trying to move materiel and troops across the country upon mobilization. The U.S. Routes where very inefficient to that undertaking.
I-189 in Burlington, VT is only a mile long, but it actually gets a decent amount of traffic. There's an unfinished section, though, that's been rotting for decades now. There has been proposal after proposal to finish the highway but every proposal ends up getting tied up in court by residents of the area where the traffic would spill out into.
The actual name of the Federal Highway Bill for 1956 was the, "National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956)". But the part most talked about to the public at the time was the justification as possible evacuation/support routes in the event of national emergency or attack. This rationale was far more public in speeches by then President Eisenhower, VP Nixon and later summarized into the Clay Committee record for Congress. But yes connection to military base was in fact part of the original justification and planning model.
@@jamescrane4050 Proof of my statement is that I-95 doesn't follow the east coast as I-5 does. Just north of the state line of South Carolina and Georgia, it veers away from the coast and, in North Carolina, it passes very close to Fort Bragg then it veers back toward the coast. The odd thing to me about this is that, if it continued to follow the coast, it would pass very close to about 4 other military bases. I guess Fayetteville had more political clout than Jacksonville and Cherry Point.
Indeed. One of the best places to see it in the start point of H3 in Hawai'i -- it start at the entrance to the Marine Corps in the Mokapu peninsula on the island of O'ahu.
Gudmund "Sonny" Jessen was a local farmer who served in the military during the Korean conflict. He took it upon himself to get involved in many local civic organizations, and for many years, was the township Clerk for Hennepin Township. The state legislature honored Mr. Jessen in 2007 by naming the I-180 bridge after him.
Thanks
I actually take this road to work in Princeton all the time! It is a quiet interstate drive, but the road is in disrepair as you said. Grain trucks will sometimes use it to get to the grain elevators in Hennepin, as that is a major area for shipping grain on the Illinois River. Hennepin also has one of North America's largest ethanol plants located nearby. There's actually a lot of industry in that area in addition to the steel.
Looks like a good place for street drags 🏁🙃
@@TheSteve1175 I was thinking that too!!🚗💨
I knew what this was right away when I saw the title. Made a lot of road trips from Indiana to the quad cities casinos back in the 90s.
A few?! Try I80 has about 100,000 bushels of grain move down it DAILY. That's at least 100 semis, probably double that in actuality. It is THE major highway from the north to the largest ethanol plant IN THE NATION
@@robertkenney-oles5948 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Ethanol? Jokey.
"The worst state of any interstate in the country"
That seriously looks as smooth as a baby's buttocks compared to some Michigan highways I've broken my car's suspension on.
Heh, as a South Carolinian I can confidently say you ain’t seen nothin’
You beat me to a michigan comment. I snapped a tie rod on I96. Many parts of 275 are horrendous as well.
94 between mi-156 to Chelsea, and Parma to Blackman are good examples for your comment.
@@osmiumsoul9535 they have 275 ripped up right now from i94 to m14.
That is pristine compared to the crumbling, hemmoroid-inducing , tire-busting "roads" we have here in the Mitten.
I actually knew Gudmund "Sonny" Jessen before he passed. He fought to allow farm equipment traffic to cross the river on that bridge, which is not normally allowed on the interstate unless the equipment is on a truck, since the old route 26/71 bridge was condemned and demolished, one of the 2 large scale demolitions in that small town. The way it works is you can get on the interstate where it ends right at Hennepin but you have to get off at the first exit which is old route 26 and vice versa. This allowed farmers who farmed on both sides of the river to easily cross thus they named the bridge to honor what he did to help the local farmers, at least that is what I was told. I can attest that it is one of the worst roads to drive on, from a ride quality standpoint, in Illinois. The bridge was redecked a couple of years ago and if I recall correctly it was not done very well.
There is much more to the story of Gudmund Jessen. I am glad you had the chance to meet him. He was my grandfather. But yes, he did put up one big fight to allow farm machinery to travel the bridge.
The bridge was totally redone from 2020 to finish in fall of 2022. It is now a very nice bridge!
He was a really good friend to my grandfather that is how I met him.
I delivered the cement to the bridge, can confirm it's a sh!t job.
Used this Interstate when hauling steel out of J&L steel in Hennepin, IL. I used it everyday in 1977. J&L was not closed in 1973.
Couple of other key points about I-180. There was a big push in the 1950s for a north/south Interstate route to traverse the length of IL, without going through Chicago, to be added to the original Interstate Highway System. It was to basically run from near Springfield, IL to Beloit, WI. In the 11th hour the Feds killed the route and the original plan was put in play.
Those IL lawmakers that were ignored ten years earlier all chipped in to getting the I-180 project built, pretty much as outlined in your video. The second phase of I-180 was to run adjacent to IL 29 on the east side of the Illinois River and run into Peoria. Early engineering studies showed that unstable ground, and corresponding floodplain of the river, would’ve meant a highway on piers. The cost would’ve been staggering.
While that was going on, a few miles farther south, the same group was planning a section of highway south of Peoria to join with I-180. Engineering was competed and land was purchased. (That section would become I-155 decades later.) There were a host of engineering projects for I-180 north of I-80 in the early 1970s. An uncle of mine worked for the IL DOT and was a part of those projects. Engineering was complete on section of roadway between I-80 and Harmon, IL. Never quite making it to Sterling, IL. However, the only land that was actually purchased was just east of Walnut, IL so the new road could interchange with IL 92. (The interchange was never built.)
While all this was going on there was a renewed interest in getting a north/south Interstate completed as quickly as possible. IL legislators were growing tired of the DOT dragging its feet in coming up with a way to make the original I-180 concept work in the floodplain of the Illinois River north of Peoria. So they pulled the funding and basically killed the project. Within a year the focus shifted east to the new highway gobbling up much of US 51. Engineering was completed in record time, and construction began in 1980 on what would be I-39.
Can you give me more detail on this.
I-39 didn't get finished, either. It was to be the down-the-middle highway. Picking up in Rockford off of I-90, it went straight south to Bloomington/Normal and terminates there. It was supposed to go around the cities, again picking up 51 off of I-74 on the south side, and go south to Decatur. Didn't happen, but there is a nicely-graded interchange just west of 51 on I-72 in Decatur which it was supposed to use. 39 and 51 were again to loop around Decatur, and about 15-20 miles of freeway and expressway were built south of Decatur. But it reduces to the original two-lane 51 near Pana, and that's it. Except for it's terminus, I-57's 'interchange to nowhere' east of Cairo. Designed to divert truck traffic away from Chicago.
3:44 The problem is: Bridges mostly only just then collapses when there is an initial force starting the collapsing effect. So its most likely that the bridge will collapse when there is most likely a vehicle (probably a loaded truck) on the bridge.
I grew up near 1-180, and I always wondered why it existed, and everyone says because of the old steel plant. It is a great road for speeding (like really fast, 140-150 mph) since it's an interstate with no traffic and little law enforcement. Others have commented that running it all the way to Peoria would make sense, but it's unlikely it will ever happen.
I’m from Peoria and go to school in North MO so I drive both these interstates all the time! They are really wacky, but honestly they’re really helpful sometimes. You get to drive really fast through an empty, but beautiful area. Still probably a waste of money, and Peoria still can’t get a full ring road 😓
Peoria is so cool, as really the only IL area that I've ever seen... that actually kinda has mountains & valleys. And the canal is cool.
You'll never believe this. Being from Southern Illinois, I can promise you that these pictures of I-180 make it look like it fits right in with other IL roads. If anything, it is probably better than our roads down here.
The state highways aren't that bad (except when you're in a town).
@@karlrovey They absolutely are down here!
@@leviaustin1233 Maybe I'm lucky and the highways I drive in Southern IL are in good shape (aside from when I'm actually in a town).
2:41 "Look at this picture I'm showing you right now, you can see that there are cracks everywhere and it's by far the worst condition interstate in the country" looks like your average road in Il to me
Well, obviously it's not going to be maintained as well as an interstate in the Chicago metro area, nor should it be given the lower amount of traffic.
Yup, here in southern Illinois nothing but pot holes, and cracks. And what does the city doe besides fix the road. The decide to fix the sidewalk instead.
This road is in mint condition compared to roads in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Michigan too. I left in 1984 and all the highways were fresh and smooth and beautiful. I came back in 1997 and all the highways looked like that picture. I hope by now they fixed it up a bit. I'm in Florida and they are constantly redoing the roads. When finished they're beautiful but the year of construction is a pain.
@@constancegreiner906 FL can't keep up with widening roads, adding turn lanes and traffic signals fast enough as traffic counts increase as the population continues explode.
being from illinois, that looks to be about the average condition for a road in the state. also, it's... eerily close, like i could go for a drive there if i wanted to (and i didn't care about how much gas cost lmfao)
and the fact that the other interstate you mentioned in IL was in my HOMETOWN (until 2009 lol) is just extra funny
it's a small world I suppose
Iowa's roads are worse, especially in the cities.
Presumably, this would be the IDEAL road for, hypothetically, testing how fast your motorcycle could go if you were so inclined, theoretically. My 2004 Yamaha FZ6, for example, allegedly, tops out at 143 (GPS confirmed, speculatively).
I agree
Judging by the condition the road is in it would be a bad idea to test to topspeed of any vehicle on it that can go faster than 100 mph.
@@antjeeismann4684well, you're absolutely right but 15 years ago the road conditions may have, purportedly, been a bit better.
Hypothertically speaking i can verify
You are absolutely correct. I grew up around there and I've topped out practically every car and motorcycle I've ever owned on I-180, BMW M3, Honda VFR (150 MPH+). The road isn't in the best shape, but hardly any traffic.
*_Only time will tell when Insterstate 180 will make an impact to Illinois and world history._*
As a resident of Illinois, I can say that image of I-180 looks better than most other roads here. 🤣
Been on it a few times and there is less traffic than many two lane county roads.
Interstate 172 exists because interstate 72 used to end in Springfield IL at I-55. in the 1990s I172 was proposed for the extended road from Springfield to Quincy, but it was given I72 instead, and what is now I172 was built as IL 336. Eventually it settled out as it stands. 172 wasn't built with federal funds and is at least better than i180 for that. Eventually 72 was extended to US36 in MO, and will one day be extended to I35 in MO. 172 exists to connect the main line road to US24 and bypass hannibal for traffic heading to US61.
I-172 also forms part of what has been designated the Chicago-Kansas City Expressway, where existing roads in northern Missouri and western Illinois have been upgraded to divided highways in order to provide an alternate long-haul trucking route between the two cities that bypasses St. Louis.
I drive this quite often, it’s true that the steel plant was the main reason for this bridge, it’s currently used by grain trucks to haul to the ethanol plant directly next door to where the steel plant used to be. Moreover, there’s several loading and unloading points for grain to barge traffic. The road is in pretty awful condition, but it’s constantly under construction. The state is currently repairing the bridge decking.
Well, all interstates in IL are pretty much always under construction.
@@jaskim5723 That's true everywhere.
Beaver: the Illinois DOT has to pay its maintenance
Illinois DOT: new phone, who dis?
I came to be educated about an interstate highway that appears to fit perfectly in a liminal space compilation video and ended up simping for a VERY handsomely dressed beaver fursona. I am not disappointed!
There is an I-180 in Cheyenne WY that isn’t even a freeway! It has traffic lights! There are so many places that deserve an interstate much more than these two places! I agree with you about I-172. Bakersfield and Fresno California are huge and the towns in between need an interstate! California 99 mostly if not wholly meets interstate standards already and should be signed as Interstate 7 or 9 right now and have a few spurs as well. I-40 should receive its long rumored extension over California 58 to at least Interstate 5 if not all the way to the coast along California 46 and a brief concurrency with I-5 and make it the fourth coast to coast interstate, along with interstates 10, 80, and 90. While I’m at it, how about using US 50 to extend Interstate 70 to Sacramento California?
um bro, you might want to check my channel page lol
Thanks
The thing about the Interstate 40 extension and Interstatehood for Cal 99 has been talk about for decades!
There is no legitimate need to extend I-70 beyond I-15 in Utah. That was the original plan for I-70. As for California Route 99, it could be either redesignated US Route 99 or the proposed I-9 put forward by CALTRANS.
Is this the guy from Stranger Things???
So I180 is part of the perposed interstate of Chicago to Kansas City. Just look at I474 near Peoria il with abruptly ends near Chillicothe, or all the new construction near Macomb going to quincy IL. Couldn't tell of any work in Missouri. This interstate idea has been in deliberation since the birth of the interstate system, especially since western IL and Northern Missouri have no real interstate service.
Subscribed, I love looking at maps
They need to just turn it into a 2 lane road. Rebuilding the bridge to interstate standards is a waste of money
No it is not.
@@bryantint1339 rebuilding it to "interstate standards" in other words to the standards needed to support a large amount of vehicles simultaneously, he saying the bridge should be rebuilt to modern safety standards as a two lane. Perfectly justifiable since the bridge only deals with the car on average every 2.5 minutes, that's in both directions combined, in a single direction it would be a avg of 1 every 5 minutes... Go into the middle of your city to any two lane road and see how many cars you count and going past you and a single direction in 5 minutes, we're in both directions every two and a half minutes, I guarantee it's way more, probably by 20 times at minimum
The bridge is 90% complete.
Yes, it should be two lanes.
Subscribed!
Great video!
well done! great video
You have earned a sub. Good shit. I hope you bring out even more vids later on.
Years ago, Illinois had a toll road, the East-West Tollway, that was identified as Illinois Route 5.
In the early 80s, it was changed to Interstate 88. It wasn't about federal funding. The Illinois Tollway system pays for the building of new toll roads and maintaining the existing roads.
But, when Congress allowed rural stretches of highways to have speed limits greater than 55mph, it was limited to the Interstate System. So, Illinois got Illinois 5 changed to I-88, in order to get the speed limit for the stretch from Aurora to the Iowa state line raised.
It's still a toll road from Rock Falls into the Chicago suburbs.
Originally there were plans to run I-180 to Peoria. In fact, there is a "ghost" interchange north of peoria that was intended for the highway but never used or finished.
Route 6 is the remnants of the unfinished highway.
@@ryanblock9573 doesn’t exist
@@VPMore No, I see it via satellite. Just a portion of the interchange allowing connection to IL 29 is in service, but you can see the remnant north of there.
@@VPMore the interchange does it exist. I travel by it all the time. The road actually extends under the overpass but just abruptly ends
This reminds me of I-110 in Baton Rouge. I can see how it used to be useful in the 1970s, when the nicer areas and affluent suburbs were located along the 110 Corridor. But the area has gotten really rough now, and crime rates have skyrocketed. Hardly anybody takes this route out of the city. The only uses it really serves is connecting downtown (which I-10 already does), and providing access to the airport and the city-suburb of Zachary.
Love your videos
The only thing even more crazy that I've heard of, also thanks to UA-cam, are Parliamentary Trains in the UK. Because it takes an act of Parliament to close down a train line, it is actually cheaper to run one of these trains, once a week, just to keep up with 'procedures'.
I think Wendover Productions/Half as Interesting did a video on that.
Your information is wrong. The steel mill ran pretty much continuously from the late 60’s into the 2000’s. (It did change ownership during that time.) Also, a decade or so ago they closed the bridge over the Illinois river just south of the Interstate bridge so they rerouted the local road traffic on to the interstate bridge. It is now the only bridge for at least 10 miles North or South.
First time watcher. First time commenter. This is an awesome channel. Love how you outline the different geographical issues/solutions. You could see what a MESS the trans Canada Highway is.
I lived most of my life in Peoria, where there is a little spur that goes north and ends at road closed signs (Route 6, a large divided highway that isn't part of the interstate system). It was always my impression that the original plan for the Peoria spur was to go all the way up to Hennepin and connect to I-180, but I have no idea if that's true.
I think you're right, at the triangle interchange on I-180 going straight leads towards Peoria and it hastily shrinks from 6 lanes to 2, as if it was intended to be a freeway connection as well.
I've always thought rhe same thing--that it was planned to go to Peoria but for some reason it never did.
Probably like 355 had all of those bridge supports just sitting for years just waiting for them to be like, okay lets finish that highway now that its like 30 years later and they finally brought 355 down from I-55 to I-80. maybe in another hundred years when population grows it will happen lol.
Peoria native here.
Route 6 was freaky. Learned to drive on that stretch of road.
There are idot studies that wanted to link 180 to Peoria. It would’ve saved about 30 min on a trip to Chicago.
Unfortunately for Peoria like most cities in Illinois are shrinking and Chicago area black hole swallows most of the money that could be used to help out other cities in Illinois to turn around population loss. Or you could do like me and move out of Illinois
Very good channel and video
When it said in the search bar "why i don't have 100k subs yet" I looked down and realized you only had 670.
so I made it 671 bc this is a great video
Looks like it was planned to continue going southwards to Peoria. If you look at Hwy 6, it just dead ends northbound at an interchange to Mossville and the Caterpillar plant and looks like it would have serve as a bypass of Hwy 29.
Peoria also has an unfinished ring road interstate! They really just gave up on everything northwest of Springfield haha
Honestly, check out some of Connecticut’s unfinished highways. There’s lots of interesting stories and abrupt endings like Rt. 25, I-290, or most famously, Rt. 11. There were just a lot of unfinished and coincidentally badly timed constructions on some roads (which would be pretty helpful for a good chunk of commuters) here. Also, I enjoy this channel. Lots of great, and very interesting content. 👍
I have not lived in CT since I was young, but does I-25 go from Bridgeport to Newtown?
Yes. Bridgeport to Monroe is a 6 lane expressway. Monroe till around Newtown is a 2 lane road. (It would have gone all the way, but I guess money was cut back in the 80’s)
@@randomfoxyfan2176 Used to bike up around there, from the Merritt in N Bridgeport to Monroe.
I also remember the never ending saga of Route 7 going from Norwalk to Danbury. Last time I was there, it abruptly ended in South Wilton. When I was really young, I remembered that it only went from I-95 for about a mile and a half north to New Canaan Ave.
Hey, somebody else in the world that has heard of Rt. 11! Halted in 1975 due to lack of funding, then ignored due to a general lack of interest in Southeast CT's welfare. It wasn't that big of an issue up until the late 1990s, because there weren't as many cars driving through back then.
Now it's a "dead issue," with 20-25,000 cars and semis rolling through small towns on a daily basis, on a two-lane road (CT-85). Very few detours when accidents happen, all poor detours for the traffic density, and plenty of secondary accidents as semis and cars try to negotiate down bumpy, twisty, hilly backroads barely wide enough for two riding lawn mowers to pass by. Cars have to watch for falling branches as semis rip them off the trees overhead.
I was in a discussion with fellow SimCity 4 players on this very topic, we were examining the metropolitan area of Hartford Connecticut, and found a grand total of 4 interstates, 2 US highways and 10 state highways that were supposed to form the city's freeway network but got cancelled!
"No geography quirks like this one."
this channel is right up my alley.
Great video.
sheeeeeeeesh i been a sub for awhile
Love geography Beaver and subbed. Living here in the Philippines with a lot of new journeys in geography.
this channel bout to blow up
Thanks for using a Fox River image at the end! Really enjoyed seeing Green Bay. Love from Wisconsin and you just got a sub with the high quality videos.
Nice video
We have a highway like that at the State level in Ohio: It's called the Appalachian Highway, or more properly, the "James A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway." Jim Rhodes was quite a controversial character. He promised his hometown Coalton that they would get a highway. And one IMPORTANT thing about Jim, he ALWAYS delivered on his promises, no matter WHAT side of the politics anyone else stood on. You DO have to give him that.... My kids called it "the road to nowhere". (They also called the Pennsylvania Turnpike "The Land of the Orange Barrels" and you know something? That's not only OBSERVANT for children, it's still pretty much True Today!) So there's another highway that you might do a video on. And in these here FIFTY Pork Barrel States? I'll bet that with a little research, you'll find PLENTY of similar roads with similar histories. Politicians don't change. I'm CERTAIN that is was like that when they put in the Ohio Canal, and the railroads after that. All the Best! DE W8LV BILL
When I only recognize James A. Rhodes from a community college in my hometown
The future I-74 extension?
I enjoyed this video
i love hearing the history/urban legends of odd building projects of the early and mid 20th century. good stuff.
Absolutely perfect video. I love it when the algorithm does its job
I quite enjoyed this.
Liked and subscribed.
Greetings from SE British Columbia, Canada.
Help! Welcome to the channel Big Rod
@@BeaverGeography I'd be happy to help, and just happen have the time. What could I do? research? let me know, I'll help 🙂
@@BeaverGeographyhave a look at Route 61 Near Centralia, Pennsylvania
im gonna go to this drive when I go on my roadtrip when I turn 17
“The worst condition of any Interstate in the country” I-40 due west of Nashville is about ten miles of straight pot holes
The most missing interstate is the stretch between Phoenix Arizona and Las Vegas Nevada. There is only a two lane filled bumper to bumper daily between two of the most growing cities in the US.
Did you just copy CGP Grey's map of the Interstate Network for the beginning? It's exactly the same image, save for the additional city names.
👍Good video
180 was created for semis to haul heavy loads from the hennepin steel mill up to i80 for easy transport. Taking the highway through Henry takes forever. The steel mill is closed and this road is seldom used. Making it a popular spot for racing, which is why police hang out on it. Illinois has talked for years about making it a 2 lane highway due to unfounded maintenance costs.
Source- I grew up in the area
I've been on here before completing I-80 through Illinois. I too was confused at the lack of traffic as well as how small the town is that it terminates in.
I-180 should've been built further south, than just to Hennepin for one or 2 local plants there. To me, sounds like someone powerful in Congress or the Senate, twisted the federal government's arms enough in getting that project approved long ago!
Anyway to me, it's crazy this expressway doesn't run further south to at least Peoria, if you ask me. Also, I'd consider an extension south and west to St. Louis, to provide an alternate route to the very congested I-55.
@@BoratWanksta IL-6 in Peoria would be a great connecting point. The freeway just abruptly ends.
from reading other comments apparent it was suppose to terminate in peuro but due to issues on funding as well issues with wet lands and politcial pressure they never finsihed it and rather not waste money went in favor of the politicians idea to end it into the steal town putting what ever little funding they had left into it
Sub'd!
this inspired me to take a drive on 180 to hennepin and it’s a super nice drive and hennepin is a very nice town with a cool beach on the illinois river
This spur route went to service the now closed steel mill that was situated at the end of the Interstate. It was put in for easy semi truck access and now just gets me to I-80 really fast.
I see the older bridge shown to the south of the current one in your video has been taken down. Google Maps labels its old western connection as Old SR 26, now ending at Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. Presumably its eastern connection was High St. in Hennepin. Street View doesn't give an option to time travel earlier than its current Aug. 2019 shots from either side. Any idea what condition the old bridge was in?
One thing missing from this video is the relationship between I-180 and State Highway 6 in Peoria, which ends abruptly by Mossville. It seems obvious that the intention was to eventually build a freeway that extends from Peoria to I-80, incorporating most of the original route of I-180. This would provide a more direct connection between Peoria and Chicago (compared to I-74 and I-55 through Bloomington-Normal).
man i live a couple hours south of i-180 and am a map nerd hence why i found your channel. I have thought the same thing it seems so pointless it forms kind of a square of interstates in the middle of Illinois. I-39 already travels north south 10 miles away from it
But I-39 didn't exist yet when I-180 was built. I-39 was built during Jim Thompson''s administration to replace U.S. 51 between Bloomington-Normal and Rockford.
They really should extend I-39 southwards to I-57 just north of Salem IL… you can very well trust there’s enough trucking traffic that would actually be thankful for a north/south that doesn’t go through congested Greater Chicagoland or even St. Louis if they want to avoid any major metropolitan areas between Wisconsin/Minnesota and the entire Deep South…
@@allenabel3471 ahh gotcha
@@schwenda3727 never thought about that but that does make sense! There is a lot more truck traffic on 57 than there is on 55. They probably would enjoy an interstate around chicago like that
@@schwenda3727 I-39 was originally planned to go to Decatur. In fact you can see the abandoned interchange on I-72.
I-238 in California might be an interesting subject for a future video
What about I-75B in Michigan?
Or he could make a video on I-49 or I-69
Number is wierd because it was adapted from CA State Route 238.
Or how about where interstate go in conflicting directions like I580 and I80...going west and east at the same time.
@@idontgiveoutname3122 - All of the other possibilities were in use already, although Route 480 has since been de-commissioned and de-mapped. It could be re-designated as 480 today, which was used for the Embracadero Freeway before it was torn down.
There was one time I drove across the Illinois River on I-180 going into Hennepin, and they had work going on on the EB lanes over the river, so they made it a one lane road across on the WB bridge. Not one lane in each direction, just one lane, with flaggers on each side. This is probably the only interstate you could probably get away with that on. Aside from that, yeah this interstate is always dead on traffic. It's about the interstate I can drive on with my brights on and rarely have to turn them down. I live about 10 miles away from it so I travel it from time to time.
I-195 in Saco, Maine is another example. Only 1 exit, lasts for less than 2 miles.
As an Illinoisan, I’ve always wondered about this interstate
The entire answer to why this highway was built was shown in the picture of the Senator requesting it: Everette Dirksen was the second most powerful politician in Washington in the 1960's, right behind Lyndon Baines Johnson. If Senator Dirksen wanted a Federal highway to his home town, you damn well know that it was going to be built.
Freeways with a 1 in front indicate that's it's a spur, even number indicates it's a loop. 110 120 130, 220 230 240 ext
My county has a 101 Loop.
@@chaotickreg7024 there's no interstate 01 tho
I saw more of the beaver in a suit than I did of the actual map. Keep it on the screen for more than a second please.
The 72 extension to the Mississippi wasn't completed until around 1990. The spur to Quincy is likely because Quincy has 2 reasonable highway bridges (Hannibal is a tourist town and WAY off the beaten path. Quincy isn't much, but it is the largest town west of Springfield (the Capital), so I don't know why they took a southern route west there (55 being the way to St. Louis, from Springpatch). It WAS very handy for driving to college when I went to Truman State (at that time Northeast Missouri State) in Kirksville. That school draws a LOT of kids from Springfield (and has for decades) so who knows. Apparently, Missouri is extending 72 cross-state (aiming for Kansas City, and to tie in a lot of tiny towns in the in-between).
If you are looking for weird Illinois Highway stuff. There's the "Ghost ramp" for highway 39 just North of Decatur on I-72.
This is a pristine example of Illinois roads...
There have been some proposals to extend I-180 down to Peoria, which would be more useful. For now, though, it's just a pretty little detour near Princeton, Illinois.
I always was confused, why I-180 wasn't extended southward to Peoria myself! Would've been a great idea way back when this was constructed, to have built it further southward to Peoria. Maybe even extend it southward to St. Louis, as well to provide an alternate route for drivers to use instead of I-55?
A Peoria to Chicago direct corridor is all I want
Interstate 794 up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a short freeway from Downtown Milwaukee to just south of the Hoan Bridge and continues on as Wisconsin State Highway 794. For years I-794 ended at a incomplete bridge known as the bridge to nowhere and was featured in the Blues Brothers movie during the car chase. Look it up in you think I am wrong. Also look into I-535 up in Duluth, Minn and Superior, Wisconsin area. Either one would be great to do a video on.
Now that would be real example of an interstate that went nowhere. Since the late 90's that is no longer the case but it was for over 2 decades.
That’s not the bridge from Blues Brothers. The Blues Brothers bridge is the 95th street drawbridge over the Calumet River on Chicago’s south side.
@@Pantsinabucket Yes that is true that bridge was on the Blues Brothers. That was at the beginning of the movie however at the end of the Nazi chase there was a scene that was filmed in Milwaukee
@@Pantsinabucket I am talking about the bridge where the Nazis fall off. Thst is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I did not believe it, but I look it up and sure enough the scene was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where the nazis fall off the bridge.
The Famous " I've Always Loved You" scene.
Interesting that this video came up in my recommendeds as I live in St Louis and was planning on taking a day trip tomorrow up to Quincy which involves taking I-172.
I live about an hour west of I-180 in IL, and have driven it a few times. It is definitely a bit eerie to drive. I like open road without much other traffic, but it is awkwardly dead.
I live near there, and I use I-180 as a way to bypass Princeton if I'm going north or south. It is eerily empty for the most part. I always thought it was originally meant to go to Peoria but never made it for some reason.
It fits right in with the Hennepin Canal, where the Mississippi used to flow... tens of thousands of years ago.
As an Illinoisan who was alive in 1969 (though I have never lived anywhere near Hennepin), I can add a few details you left out. The member of Congress you showed in your video was Everett Dirksen, the US Senate Minority Leader in the 1960's, and a resident of nearby Pekin. He died in 1969, the same year I-180 was opened. Ironically, he was famously quoted as saying about government waste, "A billion here, a billion there; pretty soon, you're talking about real money." However, in assessing Dirksen's political career as a whole, we must thank him for his efforts in getting the Republican members of Congress to support both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. (In fact, a higher percentage of Republicans than of Democrats supported those landmark laws.)
@Account NumberEight Sadly, you are correct. The Dirksen-led support for civil rights in the 1960's was the last time the GOP backed civil rights. Since then, except for Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Party of Lincoln has devolved into the party of opposition to civil rights.
Reading the comments to find interesting interstate locations to look up, haha!!
I traveled this interstate yesterday! One thing you left out in this video was that there are signs along I-80 that advertise that I-180 takes you straight to Peoria. It sort of does, which connects you to Illinois Route 29, which parallels the Illinois River and goes 48 miles straight to Peoria (from IL 29 exit). You got the part right where it is very much lonely. I must have counted at least 8 other cars on the freeway (most of them going northbound; I was going southbound). Yes, the road is battered with a few potholes here and there but I've driven on worse interstates. As far as the pretty drive, it is mostly trees and woods in the landscape so its gets boring after one minute. There was construction work at the bridge, which put both lanes down to one, but there were no workers outside. I'm not sure how often they work on the Jensen Bridge. Overall, this is a pointless Interstate spur indeed. Great video!
I remember driving down this interstate on my way to Peoria IL with a friend, we both questioned the need for it too, it was pretty interesting how desolate it was
You should look at the Blue Hills extension in Bloomfield, CT. It's extremely short, yes it branches off to different routes but it ultimately just leads to Avon and that's it
I-180 is convenient if you are going to Peoria on Hwy 29 or to Lake Thunderbird. It’s great for learning how to highway drive though that’s where I first drove on.
Checking in here from Lake Thunderbird.
I worked on that bridge delivering cement for some repairs, I find a different route around it...
Oh dang! You blew right past that 100k mark in the week since you posted this 🙌🙌🙌
*EDIT* After watching the full video, I can see why! I thoroughly enjoyed this video 🤗
Thanks, I really appreciate this!
how long would it take for someone to find out the bridge fell down
Love the humor.
There is an "Interstate" about 20 miles from my house that goes about 4 miles (if that) off of Interstate 5 in Tacoma, WA. That's I-705 and it jumps off of I-5 and goes just into downtown Tacoma. I wonder if that is shorter than the one you depict here?
I used to live in Tacoma and could hop onto 705 within minutes from where my house was. It was really nice for getting downtown quickly. I think it was once supposed to go further south of I-5 along an abandoned railroad line but terminates at a cloverleaf on 38th instead.
Just for the record, there is a system in place for numbering interstate highways. The 2 digit highways are the main roads you know and love. (Just think of I-5 having a zero in front). Even numbers are east-west directions of travel, like I-10 & I-70. The larger the number, generally the further north in the USA. The general direction is an east-west orientation. The odd numbers are north-south, like I-95, I-5, and I-35. The higher the number, the further east. The 3 digit interstates are spurs or loops off of 2 digit main roads. If the first digit is odd, that highway is a spur heading away from the main road (in any direction) and does not intersect with the main road again. Like in this video, I-180 leads away from I-80 and seemingly deadends. If it starts with an even number, it's a loop highway that leaves the main road and meets up or crosses it again somewhere else. Like I-410 in San Antonio loops around the entire city, crossing I-10 two times. Anyways, the leading odd numbered 3 digit spur should, and was meant to just end somewhere. :)
I-705 is significantly shorter than the freeway to Hennepin Illinois.
Illinois' I-190 is shorter. It is just over 3 miles long, but it serves Chicago-O'Hare Airport.
@@geoffroi-le-Hook I 277 in Charlotte may be the shortest loop interstate highway at 4.5 miles.
Thank you very kool facts..most people have no idea what even and odds numbers means.✌
Interstate 80: Hey wanna go somewhere
Interstate 180: ok let’s go “NoWhErE”
Interstate 80: Ok mr NoWhErE Let’s go “NoWhErE”
It was originally added to support LTV Steel in Hennepin, which was at the end of the route. They built it to support the trucks to get the steel on I-80.
LTV closed about a year ago. Also, it was going to connect to Peoria but after several studies over the years it was never feasible to connect peoria to I-80
I've always wondered about this spur. I rationalized it by assuming it was a way to cross the Illinois river and that it may ones day connect to Peoria.
An interesting, but very important time saving, little spur route is I-865 northwest of Indianapolis. Because of the orientation of I-65 to I-465 on the west side, I-865 connects 465 west to 65 north to Chicago as well as 65 south to 465 east to points along the north side of Indy. There are no other interchanges along the approximately 4 mile stretch.
I was glad when picking up a load at the rubbermaid I believe made it so much better and it is a pretty drive and relaxed drive and despite it looking bad it is actually a smooth drive at least in 2013 the last time I drove on it
Hey, was the first map from CGP Grey's interstate video? Also, great video about explaining the BS about this interstate.