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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.
"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!
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
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.
@@rjmcallister1888 Indeed, heading west just before the IL-121 highway to "Lincoln" at mile 138 exit you encounter off and on rams that go no where.. I always wondered why there was this intricate interchange on the west side of Decatur, it's where I-72, US36 (36 merging into I-72) and US51 all converge and with 51 going south that was supposed to be an interstate. You can clearly see just south of that interchange how limited the access is to US51 is for a few miles before it looks more like a four lane US highway. I used to drive through that interchange a lot back in the early 2000's for a job.
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.
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 😓
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@@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
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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
The only thing even more crazy that I've heard of, also thanks to RU-vid, 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'.
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.
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!
*facepalm* the interstate was built to connect military bases, and there just so happened to be a steel plant that had a military contract in Hennepin....that's why I-180 exists
Jabber: Guys I’m so smart look I made a epic RU-vid comment about how interstate help the us take over the world and we need to stop them and AOC is gonna save the US and djrbhddbbd
Surprised I had to scroll so far to find this comment, and pained it has so few thumbs up. What used to be common knowledge just seems lost on younger generations.
Jabber -- that's one reason; it was also built for rapid deployment of said military, as well as for faster evacuation of large cities in time of need [remember, the system was built during the Cold War].
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.
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
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).
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.
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.
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
@@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.
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
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.
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
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.
There are plans slowly progressing to improve the highway between I-180 and Peoria, though not to interstate standards, which will significantly increase the utility of the road.
It's LONG overdue, that I-180 should've been built further southward to at least Peoria decades ago IMO. And good, I hope I-180 finally gets a long overdue extension south to Peoria.
From my understanding, the US highway system works like this: 80 is the “main” highway and 180 is the “sub” highway. (I’m sure there are proper names for them, other than sub and main, but I don’t know them) When a “sub” highway comes off a “main” highway, you use the “main” highway number and add a number to the front. IF the “sub” highway comes off the “main” highway, and then reconnects at another location….it gets an even number in front. (For example…474 in Peoria comes off of 74 near Morton and again near Pottstown. Other good examples are basically all the freeways around St. Louis) IF the “sub” highway comes off the “main” highway in only one location, and never again…they give it an odd number in the front. (Other than 180 another example is the 355 near Chicago). This likely has nothing to do with why 180 is there….just thought I’d throw that out there.
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.
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.
Haven't been on that road in 20 years. It was desolate back then and in terrible condition then. I was always under the impression that the route was intended to go to Peoria but fell short of funding.
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-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.
I wouldn't mind I-180 if it continued the entire way to Peoria and connected to I-39 near Mendota. Then there would be a purpose connecting the state of Wisconsin to the ninth largest city in Illinois.
You comment about I-172 near Quincy. A bit of background on that. The original east freeway bypass of Quincy went from IL 96 to US 24 as IL 336, built in the late 70s. US 36 was being upgraded to a freeway from Springfield to Hannibal in stages. The next to last stage included an extension of 336 to interchange with US 36. If you look at that interchange, you will see that the mainline of the freeway continued into what becomes I-172. I-72 West actually exits itself. Once the new freeway bridge at the Mississippi was finished, then US 36 got upgraded to I-72 cosigned with US 36 and IL 336 became I-172. IL 336 still is in existence north of US 24 as an at grade expressway towards Macomb and Monmouth.
Drive this weekly. Bridge is almost fully complete. Intended for truck hauling. Hennepin is also a big hub on the river. There would be a mix of railcar, barge and semi-trucks for the natural resources aside from the steel. Still used by trucks, just far far less traffic. Everyone gives thumbs ups n waves on that road, like it's VIP only. 👍 👋
If you follow IL29 down to the Peoria area you will see another Uncompleted, IL6 which is a continuation of I474 which if completed would contact the two.
For years, I787 ended abruptly in front of the Watervliet Arsenal. It didn't even end with an intersection. It just stopped with some signs saying "Road Closed" or something like that. Eventually they extended it with NY 787.
This reminds me of I-587 in Kingston, NY. One mile long, no exits, a traffic light on one end, a traffic circle at the other. Barely anyone uses it. It's just there for some reason.
I know that road well. It's 1.2 miles long. (When talking about shortness, every tenth of a mile counts.) I recall it being used quite a bit. But I don't understand why it's not just a continuation of NY Rte. 28. There is now a $12 mil+ traffic circle at I-587/Albany Ave/Broadway - Recently completed. That was/is one crazy intersection. Surprisingly, it's not the shortest interstate in the country - That title belongs to I-878 in NYC at 7/10 of a mile. (See - Tenths of a mile DO count.)
If you want a major Interstate that doesn't go anywhere, there's I-70 in Utah. The western terminus of I-70 was originally going to be Denver, but Colorado lawmakers lobbied for it to be extended westward to compete with cross-country traffic through New Mexico (I-10 and I-40) and Wyoming (I-80). The plan then was to have it end in Salt Lake City, but the terminus was moved further south along I-15 to direct traffic towards Las Vegas and Los Angeles. So, while it does serve a purpose, I-70 ends in the middle of nowhere and serves no major towns west of Grand Junction.
Corruption in Illinois?!? Who would have thought that possible? In all seriousness there are sections of old Route 66 in Illinois that have their original 1926 pavement that look like they are in better condition than I-180.
In Georgia, the first Interstate Hwy to be completed was I-16 from Macon to Savannah. The Ga. DOT commissioner lived in Soperton at that time. It made an easier commute to his offices in downtown Atlanta. 😮
Another oddity about I-180 is that the mile markers run opposite to what you would expect. When driving North to get to I-80, the mile-markers are counting down to zero.
That is almost all roads in Louisiana. They don’t do any preventative maintenance and repairs on any of the roads and highways. What is wrong with Louisiana?
Makes sense . JL STEEL owned a major expanse of property surrounding the plant . You could travel through it , and it reminded you of the Army Ammunition plant outside Joliet . Much of it was tilled and produced crops . Spent a few years in the area mid 70s . Good people , but the politics surrounding this seemed to never end .
I'm not sure what your sources are, but I could see J&L out of my bedroom window, growing up. It did not close down in 1973. It did get sold in the 80's to LTV and they ran the plant until 2002.
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.
"By far the worst Interstate in the country" Visit literally any Interstate in Michigan, my dude. You showed that road and I literally laughed out loud, since it's in better condition than nearly anything in the Detroit area.
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 want to give a little bit of a backstory on I-172, since it perked my interest (since I'm a Quincy resident): Before 1995, I-72 ran from Champaign to I-55 in Springfield. In 1995, I-72 was approved by the FHA to extend all the way to Fall Creek. The Highway would then use the (get this, there USED to be a state highway there, which you noted that it would need one) Illinois Route 336, which has been a divided Highway since at least 1984, and would end at U.S. 24. This was recommended to be I-172 by IDOT, was approved to be I-72 regardless. In 1999, the FHA approved of a bridge across the Mississippi River to Hannibal, which would make the old U.S. 36 bridge obsolete (would be demolished around 2002), and the new interstate bridge would carry I-72 two miles into Missouri. The old Highway that used IL 336? That was commissioned as I-172. IDOT kinda got their wish in the end. Bwomp. But I do want to note that this Highway is well-kept, and MUCH better than I-180 in terms of road quality. Another thing to note is that I-172 USED to serve a purpose which backfired brilliantly: to provide economic benefit to the greater area around Quincy and Macomb. What it did instead was only allow businesses to spring up AT Quincy and siphon people out of Quincy. What's even funnier is the IL 110 stunt, which has also failed, in Illinois only. They still have yet to build the divided highway section between Macomb and Good Hope. Aside from that, I-172 does have a nice drive, if you want to see one of the VERY few rock cuts in Western IL on an interstate.
This is true. I myself was born in Quincy, and lived here till I was 9. At that time there was no interstate highways close to Quincy. There was only a couple of short segments of divided highways there. US 24, and Illinois 57 (the Gardner Expressway). As for I-72, ending in Hannibal. Eventually it will be extended west to Cameron, Missouri to connect with Interstate 35, once US 36 is completely upgraded. As for I-172, it will see more traffic once I-72 is completed. It also makes travel between Quincy (the east side of town, my old neighborhood) to Hannibal much faster.
@@Scanmeister and the thing about U.S. 24 and IL 57 is that they were made into divided highways in the 60s to one: facilitate the heavy traffic now coming from the industrial complexes south of Quincy, and to two: accommodate for the new U.S. 24 realignment which originally took North 12th Street to Spring Lake Road (curve clearly visible) to 24th Street (the curve has been demolished) to Boy Scouts Road (remnants of curve still visible) to its present day location (old intersection with IL 96 barely visible). The new U.S. 24 was built as a quicker and faster means of traveling through Quincy, and so it destroyed old U.S. 24 on 12th Street and connected directly with IL 96.
@@microwave9031 You sound like you have been around a lot longer than I have. I was born in 1964 and left in 1974. I still try to visit my hometown, once a year. Usually when I am visiting family in Southeast Iowa
My father used to work for Gardner-Denver in Quincy, until we got transferred to Texas. So, I know all about the Gardner Expressway. In addition I went to school at Ellington School, right next to Moorman's (now ADM)
Now it leads to Marquis Energy (just bought the steel mill property). They will produce other types of ethanol fuel there. The multi-million dollar bridge was just replaced and the roads are in better condition than most around the area.
While not an interstate, the Terminal Island Freeway was built during WW2 to get shipyard workers to Terminal Island and the Navy Shipyard. It was built by the Federal Government. But predates the Interstate system. When I5 was built there was talk of connecting, but nothing happened. Recently I710 was extended onto Terminal Island but last time I checked there was no Freeway connection to the Terminal Island Freeway. One has to exit I710 and take surface street to beginning of Terminal Island Freeway. Until the I710 came to Terminal Island, the Terminal Island Freeway was a favorite of trucks coming and going to the island.
If you want to see another bizarre highway, check out the Chickasaw Turnpike in Oklahoma. It's a two-lane toll road that goes from nowhere to nowhere. It's the only segment of a cancelled project to connect I-35 to I-40 bypassing Oklahoma City and was built as a sop to rural politicians to get their support for a more comprehensive set of toll roads.
You have wrong facts in your video and your comments about my grandfather, Gudmund Sonny Jessen, who the river bridge is named after are very far from true also. He was a great man that was very involved in Hennepin and Putnam County. I personally worked very hard to gather a great deal of information to put together the proposal for state and federal legislation to get the naming approved. The steel mill ran in Hennepin for many years, not the few years you stated. The interstate now has much more traffic with Marquis Energy in Hennepin and the bridge over the river is on year 3 of a 3 year major rebuild from the beams up. I know you have a freedom of speech right but maybe you should do more research on your video topics before making a video full of false information.
I went on street view just today to check it out: it looks like they're giving the bridge a fresh coat of paint! You can see they've blocked off one side for repairs.
Hi. This video popped up on my recommendations as, despite living in UK, it’s a topic which interests me. It was an interesting story too but, sadly, I’m still not much the wiser. Not knowing the geography of Illinois I was struggling to see on your maps where this road went. But you galloped through at such speed and with so many cutaways that I was soon completely lost. UK equivalents have speed limits of 70mph. Last time I drove on an Interstate it was 55mph. Sometimes there’s a lot to be said for slowing things down a little! I get the Beaver avatar but, speaking purely personally, less time on that and more time on the maps and context would have helped me a lot.
I live in a bordering state to IL, have driven near hear a handful of times and had no clue what he was trying to do with the zoomed in maps flashing for a couple seconds on screen. I suspect people who live in the middle of the map flash he displayed couldn't explain what was going on.
Final construction on the U.S.. interstate was not completed until 1978 when the last segment of I-40 was opened to bypass Seligman, Arizona taking away most of the traffic that had gone through the small town and the revenue generated by travelers on the Old U.S.Hwy. 66 often referred to as " The Mother Road" because the road carried thousands of travelers from east to the west to California in the 1930's, 40's and 50's before the Interest are highway system was built. The old U.S. 66 was only a narrow two lane highway and the road went through. It's on of the most historical coast to coast highways in our country. Parts of the highway are still maintained and traveled on by those wishing to take and see a number of place not seen from Interstate 40. There were also segments of old U.S. 66 across western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle counties of Wheeler and Gray still in use at the end of the 1960's. These sections of highway did not become Interstate until sometime in the 1970's. So plans for the Interstate highway system may have been completed by 1969 but construction on some the main routes (not loops or spurs) was not completed until years later. Some US highways were upgraded to short interstate routes in the 1980"s. 120 miles of US 87 from Lubbock to Amarillo, Texas were upgraded to Interstate 27 during the 80's as a city to city expressway. This has been long. I hope those reading this find it of interest. I only wanted to make the creator of the video that our interstate system was not completely finished by 1969.
