Illinois Route 29

Route description

Illinois 29 runs near the right bank (going down stream) which is (north and west) of the Illinois River from Spring Valley to Peoria. Starting at U.S. 6/Illinois 89 at the north edge of Spring Valley, the road passes through the small towns of Putnam and Henry, intersecting Illinois Route 18 at Henry. In Sparland, Illinois 29 intersects Illinois Route 17. It then runs beneath the bluff at Hopewell before becoming 4th Street, the main north–south artery through Chillicothe.

From the north end of Illinois Route 6 at Mossville south through Peoria and Peoria Heights, Route 29 is named Galena Road until it crosses U.S. Route 150 at the McClugage Bridge and merges with U.S. Route 24 from the bridge; from there the road is named Adams Street. South of downtown in Peoria, 29 splits from U.S. 24 onto the Cedar Street Bridge, where it crosses the Illinois River to East Peoria with Illinois Route 8 and Illinois Route 116.

At the east end of the Cedar Street Bridge, Routes 8 and 116 proceed north on East Peoria's Main Street, and Route 29 proceeds south, entering Creve Coeur on Main Street and providing an interchange with Interstate 474. It enters Pekin as 8th Street and forks off as 5th Street before a short concurrency with Illinois Route 9 near the Pekin Bridge. Splitting onto 2nd Street (southbound) and 3rd Street (northbound) before crossing the bridge, Route 29 exits Pekin as 2nd Street, passing the Federal Correctional Institution, Pekin, and from there goes substantially directly south through Mason City to Springfield.

Route 29 enters Springfield at the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport, and runs around the north and east sides of the city. After leaving Springfield at an interchange with Interstate 72/U.S. Route 36, Route 29 runs southeast through Taylorville, passing the end of Illinois Route 104 and crossing Illinois Route 48, then ending at U.S. Route 51/Illinois Route 16 in Pana.

History

Route 29 was established in 1918, and ran from DePue to Peoria. It was extended twice over Illinois Route 24 in 1936 and 1940, and in 1942 replaced an old alignment of U.S. Route 6 from Bureau Junction to Spring Valley.

Future

Illinois' Rte. 29 has long been slated as one of the roads to be upgraded as part of a Peoria-to-Chicago Highway. While there are no longer funded plans to build the expressway, there are plans to attempt to reduce congestion on Illinois 29 by widening it from a narrow two-lane highway to a four-lane divided highway.

In September 2001, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) began the Illinois 29 Study to determine feasible upgrade paths for this corridor.

The Illinois 29 Study covers Route 29 from Interstate 180 across the Illinois River from Hennepin, south to Illinois Route 6 at Mossville.

Along most of this stretch, the road is a striped, two lane (one northbound, one southbound) highway. In Chillicothe, the speed limit is reduced to 35 mph (56 km/h), though there are now four lanes (two northbound, two southbound). Truck traffic is relatively heavy along this stretch, owing to various industrial factories located in the towns.

Proposed solutions

IDOT is considering a western bypass of Henry, Sparland, Hopewell, and Chillicothe. It is referred to as the "Bluff Alternate" because the highway would be relocated (south of Putnam) onto a bluff overlooking the Illinois River. Another alternate still under consideration is to merely upgrade the roads through Hopewell and Sparland to a divided four-lane highway.

Some other considerations have already been withdrawn, including an eastern bypass of Putnam.

All solutions result in the lengthening of Illinois Route 6 to meet the new Illinois 29 just north of Peoria.