Illinois Route 173 (IL 173) is a 66.20-mile-long (106.54 km) east–west state highway that runs from Illinois Route 251 in the Rockford suburb of Machesney Park east to Illinois Route 137 (Sheridan Road) in Zion near the Illinois-Wisconsin border.[1] Illinois Route 173 is also one of the northernmost east-west state highways in Illinois. On Interstate 94 (Tri-State Tollway) traveling south from Wisconsin, it is the second road seen which has an interchange at that location. Similarly, when traveling south/east from Wisconsin on Interstates 39/90 and U.S. Route 51 (Jane Addams Memorial Tollway), Illinois Route 173 is only the third exit into Illinois. In 2008, the entirety of Illinois 173 has been designated the 173rd Airborne Brigade Highway[3]
 Illinois Route 173 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosecrans Road | ||||
 IL 173 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by IDOT | ||||
| Length | 66.20 mi[1] (106.54 km) | |||
| Existed | 1924[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  IL 251 in Machesney Park | |||
    I-39 Toll / I-90 Toll / US 51 in Loves Park US 14 in Harvard US 12 in Richmond US 45 in Antioch I-94 Toll in Zion US 41 in Zion | ||||
| East end |  IL 137 in Zion | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Illinois | |||
| Counties | Lake, McHenry, Boone, Winnebago | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Route description
editIllinois 173 travels across relatively hilly northern Illinois from the Rockford area to Zion. This area is more densely populated than other portions of rural Illinois. It is two lanes for over 90% of its length.
In July 2007, a new interchange was constructed at Illinois 173, Interstates 39/90, and U.S. Route 51 (Jane Addams Memorial Tollway).
History
editSBI Route 173 originally ran from near downtown Rockford (along Forest Hills Road) to Zion. During the 1980s, when the village of Machesney Park was heavily developed and incorporated, Illinois Route 173 was scaled back and its western terminus moved to Illinois Route 251 (North 2nd Street). From 1972 to 1994 the highway also assumed a portion of what is now Illinois Route 137 north to the Wisconsin border. [2]
Major intersections
edit| County | Location | mi[4] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnebago | Machesney Park | 0.0 | 0.0 | IL 251 (2nd Street) | |
| Machesney Park–Loves Park village line | 1.3 | 2.1 |  CR 11 (Perryville Road) | ||
| 3.6 | 5.8 | I-39 Toll / I-90 Toll / US 51 Toll (Jane Addams Memorial Tollway) – Chicago, Rockford, Madison | |||
| Caledonia | 4.6 | 7.4 |  CR 25 (Belvidere Road) | ||
| Boone | 9.4 | 15.1 |  IL 76 (Fairgrounds Road) | ||
| McHenry | Harvard | 22.8 | 36.7 |  US 14 east (Division Street) | West end of US 14 overlap |
| 23.3 | 37.5 |  US 14 west (Division Street) | East end of US 14 overlap | ||
| 25.4 | 40.9 |   CR A18 east (Altenberg Road) | |||
| Alden | 28.9 | 46.5 |   CR A15 west (Oak Grove Road) | ||
| Hebron | 34.1 | 54.9 |  IL 47 (Main Street) | ||
| Richmond | 39.1 | 62.9 |  CR V30 (Keystone Road) | ||
| 40.6 | 65.3 | US 12 (Main Street) | |||
| Spring Grove | 44.5 | 71.6 |   CR V43 south (Richardson Road) | ||
| Lake | Antioch | 48.5 | 78.1 |   CR V51 north (Lake Avenue) | |
| 51.3 | 82.6 |   IL 59 south | |||
| 52.1 | 83.8 |  IL 83 (Main Street) | |||
| 56.1 | 90.3 | US 45 | |||
| Old Mill Creek | 58.3 | 93.8 |  CR W15 (Hunt Club Road) | ||
| 58.8 | 94.6 |  I-94 Toll east (Tri-State Tollway) – Chicago | |||
| Rosecrans | 59.7 | 96.1 |     US 41 (Skokie Highway) to I-41 north / I-94 west | ||
| Zion | 63.0 | 101.4 |  IL 131 (Green Bay Road) | ||
| 64.4 | 103.6 |  CR W34 (Lewis Avenue) | |||
| 66.20 | 106.54 |  IL 137 / LMCT (Sheridan Road) | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
References
edit- ^ a b Illinois Technology Transfer Center (2006). "T2 GIS Data". Retrieved 2007-11-08.
- ^ a b Carlson, Rich (2005-04-15). "Illinois Highways Page: Routes 161 thru 180". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ "Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR0886". www.ilga.gov.
- ^ "Overview Map of IL 173" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
External links
edit
Media related to Illinois Route 173 at Wikimedia Commons
