Illinois Route 116


Illinois Route 116 is a cross-state rural state highway that runs from U.S. Route 34 by Gladstone east to the intersection of US 45 and Old US 45, on the north side of Ashkum.

Route description

The western terminus of Illinois 116 is approximately from the Iowa state line, east of Burlington, Iowa. It crosses the Illinois River from Peoria to East Peoria with Illinois Route 8 on the Cedar Street Bridge.
On the southeast side of the Illinois River, Route 116, U.S. Route 24 and U.S. Route 150 form a wrong-way concurrency. Travelling northeast along the river, U.S. 150 is marked west before crossing the river to enter Peoria, Illinois 116 is marked east, and U.S. 24 is also marked east before branching to north of Washington. Travelling southwest, U.S. 150 is marked east before branching to Morton, Illinois 116 is marked west before crossing the river to enter Peoria on its southern side, and U.S. 24 is also marked west before continuing south with Illinois Route 29.

History

U.S. Route 124 was a U.S. Highway that was commissioned from 1926 to 1938, and was located in Illinois, traveling from Peoria through Biggsville. It was approximately in length, and followed much of the route of IL 116, prior to its decommissioning. SBI Route 116 originally traveled separately from east of Ashkum to East Peoria.
US 124 was one of the original 1928 US routes in Illinois, since US routes didn't appear on Illinois maps until then. It originally went from Peoria to Galesburg, along with the then IL 8, via Farmington and Maquon on the route of the current IL 116, west from Peoria to IL 97, north to IL 8, west to IL 97, then northwest on IL 97 to Galesburg, with the last few miles on the current US 150.
In 1934, US 124 was rerouted west on the current IL 116 to near Biggsville, where it connected to US 34, for access to the Mississippi River crossing into Iowa. Westbound traffic from Peoria had a choice. Proceed along US 24 to cross the Mississippi River at Quincy – the old Peoria to Quincy stagecoach route, or take US 124 to cross the Mississippi River at Burlington, Iowa.
With the completion of Interstate 474 as a western bypass of Peoria in 1978, an Interstate connector was constructed as the eastern terminus for the proposed western Illinois expressway. The connector provides access to IL 116.

Related routes

Illinois Route 97A was a short rural spur that ran from IL 97 south of Media, south to the community of Raritan.