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Interstate 72 (I-72) is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. Its western terminus is in Hannibal, Missouri, at an intersection with U.S. Route 61; its eastern terminus is at Country Fair Drive in Champaign, Illinois. The route runs through the major cities of Decatur, Illinois and Springfield, Illinois. In 2006, the Illinois General Assembly dedicated all of Interstate 72 as Purple Heart Memorial Highway. The stretch between Springfield and Decatur is also called Penny Severns Memorial Expressway, and the section between Mile 35 and the Mississippi River is known as the Free Frank McWorter Historic Highway.

Missouri[]

I-72 runs for just over 2 miles (3.2 km) in the state of Missouri. Its western terminus is an interchange with U.S. Route 61 to the Mark Twain Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River. This bridge connects the city of Hannibal with Illinois. Presently, there are only two exits for I-72 in Missouri.

Illinois[]

In Illinois, I-72 runs for 182 miles (293 km). The portion of I-72 and I-172 from Springfield to Quincy is commonly referred to as the Central Illinois Expressway (CIE). As of 2007, I-72 has one business route -- Business Loop 72 in Jacksonville.

Near Valley City at mile marker 42 are the Valley City Eagle Bridges. These two individual two-lane spans bridge the Illinois River in rural west-central Illinois. Near mile marker 78, a sign marks 90 degrees longitude.

At its eastern terminus in Champaign, I-72 continues as Church Street (westbound) and University Avenue (eastbound), which stay as one-way streets for an additional 3 miles (4.8 km) into downtown Champaign.

Chicago-Kansas City Expressway[]

The concept of I-72 across Missouri was to create the Chicago–Kansas City Expressway, a rural four-lane highway across northern Missouri and west central Illinois from Cameron, Missouri at I-35 to Springfield, Illinois at I-55. This would provide a series of rural 4-lane highways (I-35, US 36, I-72, and I-55) connecting Chicago to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Corridor (High Priority Corridor 23). This would reduce the amount of through traffic, primarily truck traffic, in the St. Louis, Des Moines, and Quad Cities metropolitan areas by serving as an alternate route for I-70 and I-80. The Missouri portion of this route is designated as part of High Priority Corridor 61.

Based on the 157-mile (253 km) marker at Route 79, when US 36 is upgraded to Interstate standards across Missouri, the future western terminus of I-72 would be at Cameron, Missouri at the intersection with I-35. Currently, the west end of I-72 route is west of US 61 and flows concurrent with US 36 into Illinois. In 2004, US 36 was upgraded to a 4-lane expressway between US 61 and US 24 at the Rocket Junction (7 miles). There are three exits along this expressway: Veterans Road, Shinn Lane (Hannibal Regional Hospital), and US 24 East (Future Hannibal Bypass) at the Rocket Junction. This expressway is up to interstate standards (completed August 2007). Also, an interchange with Route 15 was installed in Shelbina. At Clarence, US 36 resumes 4-lane expressway status.

Due to funding priorities, upgrading US 36 between Macon and Hannibal was a low-priority project and was officially tabled by MoDOT. MoDOT committed to constructing the four-lane highway as a non-interstate expressway only if the five counties served by US 36 east of Macon would contribute half of the $100 million cost.

I-Blank (CA)
Interstate Highway System
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Signed 12345789101112141516171819202122232425262729303537394041424344454748495053555759606465666869707172737475 • 76 (CO–NEOH–NJ) • 77787980818283 • 84 (OR–UTPA–MA) • 85 • 86 (IDPA–NY) • 87 (NCNY) • 88 (ILNY) • 8990919293949596979899101H-1H-2H-3
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Major Interstates are written in bold.
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