Interstate 57

Route description

|- |AR

Arkansas

In Arkansas, I-57 begins in North Little Rock at I-40, running concurrently with US 67 and US 167. I-440 westbound begins at the junction of the two Interstates in Jacksonville. I-57 continues northbound through Jacksonville, and the Interstate temporarily narrows from six lanes to four lanes at the Main Street interchange. I-57 is four lanes until it widens back to six lanes just north of the Vandenberg Boulevard interchange (exit 11). I-57 widens back to six lanes for 5 mi northbound until an interchange with Highway 5 (AR 5) and AR 89 in Cabot. At this point, the Interstate reverts to four lanes as it continues north through Cabot.Construction to widen I-57 to six lanes between Main Street and Vandenburg Boulevard in Jacksonville and the AR 5/AR 89 interchange is ongoing and is expected to be complete sometime in 2027. After the AR 5/AR 89 interchange in Cabot, I-57 reverts to four lanes until it ends in Walnut Ridge. In Beebe, US 64 runs concurrently with the Interstate and continues east for 27 mi until exit 55 in Bald Knob where US 64 splits off to the east and US 167 splits off to the north to Batesville. I-57 continues northbound from Bald Knob, through Newport to Walnut Ridge, where it runs concurrently with US 412. The Interstate ends at unsigned exit 124 in Walnut Ridge, where US 67 continues north to Pocahontas and US 412 splits off to the east.

Missouri

In Missouri, I-57 begins in Sikeston at a cloverleaf interchange with I-55 as a continuation of US 60 and heads east. Entering Charleston, the Interstate almost immediately interchanges with I-57 Bus./Route 105. Southeast of the city, it then turns to the northeast. To the east of Charleston, the US 60 concurrency ends after about 12 mi when I-57 meets US 62/Route 77, with US 60 heading eastward and I-57 Bus. ending. I-57 eventually meets the Missouri–Illinois state line at the Mississippi River, crossing the Cairo I-57 Bridge into Cairo, Illinois.

Illinois

I-57 is the longest Interstate Highway in the state of Illinois, spanning 364.16 mi long with Chicago being the main city along its northern route and Memphis being the southern main city along its southern route. I-57 then enters Illinois across the Mississippi River into Cairo. It passes through Mounds and Ullin, and then it makes an interchange with US 51, making US 51 depart from its temporary concurrency with the Interstate. I-57 then continues north and has an interchange with I-24 toward Nashville, Tennessee. It then continues to head toward Marion, West Frankfort, Benton, Whittington, and Ina and then heads into Mount Vernon. In Mount Vernon, I-57 has a short concurrency with I-64 while making two diamond interchanges with the city's streets. I-64 then leaves I-57 and continues its western route toward St. Louis, Missouri, while I-57 continues toward Effingham. In Effingham, I-70 joins I-57 and makes interchanges with the city's streets once again. I-70 then departs from I-57 and continues east toward Terre Haute and Indianapolis, Indiana. As for I-57, it continues and heads toward Mattoon where it has a cloverleaf interchange with US 45 and then heads toward Champaign where it meets the terminus of I-72 in a cloverleaf interchange. It then travels for another 2 mi and then meets up with a soon to be changed from a cloverleaf interchange to a semi-directional interchange with I-74 going east toward Indianapolis (again) and west toward Bloomington. The Interstate then heads toward Kankakee and then into Cook County where it meets its own terminus with I-94 ending in Chicago.

History

The oldest segment of I-57 is a 6.2 mi strip running east of Bradley to Kankakee labeled on the 1959 Illinois state highway map. Two years later, a 33 mi stretch of I-57 from Dongola north to Marion opened on September 26, 1961. Another portion between the Illinois Route 121 (IL 121)/US 45 exit and the Watson–Mason exit was completed and opened prior to July 1965, linking I-57 to I-70 and running in tandem with I-70 for several miles, with access to Indianapolis, Indiana, to the east and St. Louis, Missouri, to the west. A 21.5 mi section of I-57 in Jefferson County from Bonnie (using a temporary road that is still partially visible from the northbound lanes) to IL 161 later opened on December 9, 1969. The portion of I-57 in Chicago (known as the Dan Ryan West Leg Extension) was constructed and opened in segments between 1963 and 1970. It remains the most recent Interstate Highway to be established within the city. The final section of I-57 in Illinois opened in December 1971 at Paxton.

The portion of I-43 from Milwaukee to Green Bay was originally numbered as I-57. The number was changed due to the existence of I-57 in Illinois.

I-57 was widened to six lanes in Effingham from 2011 until 2016.

For many years, an interchange at the junction of I-57 with I-294 did not exist. It was one of the few places in the U.S. where Interstates cross but have no interchange. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) opened Phase 1 of a new interchange in 2014, providing access from I-57 north to I-294 north and from I-294 south to I-57 south. Phase 2, which four of the remaining movements (northbound-to-southbound access being served by I-80), was opened to traffic on September 11, 2022.

On November 7, 2024, after over 50 years since the completion of the original route, 122.80 mi of US 67 from North Little Rock to Walnut Ridge in Arkansas was officially redesignated to I-57, finally extending the Interstate to the state of Arkansas. Signs started going up in March 2025.

Future

I-57 is slated to eventually be extended west along US 60 to Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and then south along the US 67 corridor to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, connecting to the existing (as of 2024) Arkansas segment of I-57. The extension is listed under High Priority Corridor 89, the I-57 Corridor Extension. In April 2016, a provision designating US 67 from North Little Rock to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, as "Future I-57" was added into the federal fiscal year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding bill and officially became law in 2017. On November 7, 2024, the section of US 67 between North Little Rock and Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, was officially designated as I-57 by ArDOT.

Missouri has already converted 62 mi of the US 60/US 67 corridor between Sikeston and US 160/Route 158 near Harviell to a mixture of freeway and expressway segments. All at-grade crossings along the corridor would have to be eliminated before the Interstate designation could be applied. This leaves about 12 mi of new freeway between US 160/Route 158 to the Arkansas state line to be constructed.

In Arkansas, 118 mi of I-57 runs from I-40 to US 412 in Walnut Ridge, leaving a segment of approximately 40 mi of new Interstate-grade highway along US 67 that still would need to be built in northeastern Arkansas. The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT) announced in September 2023 that work to extend Future I-57 in Clay County would begin in late 2024 or early 2025 depending on when contracts are let along with completion of the final design process. The first section will be between the US 67 interchanges at Walnut Ridge and Corning while the second section (which will begin construction starting in 2025) will extend the first section northward to the Missouri state line. Plans for the Corning Bypass show Arkansas Highway 657 (AR 657) as a temporary designation for this section until other sections are completed. ARDOT broke ground on November 14, 2024 on the Corning Bypass.

Exit list

Missouri–Illinois state line

Related routes

Arkansas Highway 657

Arkansas Highway 657 is a proposed state highway and a bypass around the city of Corning in Clay County, Arkansas. Construction on AR 657 is expected to begin in 2025, with completion set for late 2027. Ground was broken on November 14, 2024.

Charleston business loop

Interstate 57 Business (I-57 Bus.) in Charleston, begins at I-57 exit 10. From this diamond interchange, it runs north concurrently with Route 105 along South Main Street into the city center. It then turns east onto Marshall Street, which also carries US 62 and Route 77. The business route ends at I-57 exit 12. US 62 and Route 77 continue to the east with US 60.

Notes

References

References

1. Public Roads Administration. (August 14, 1957). "Official Route Numbering for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways as Adopted by the American Association of State Highway Officials". Public Roads Administration.
2. Starks, Edward. (January 27, 2022). "Table 1: Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". [[Federal Highway Administration]].
3. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. "Interstate Control Cities". American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
4. Missouri Department of Transportation. (n.d.). "Exit 64A sign". Missouri Department of Transportation.
5. (November 2, 2024). "Arkansas to celebrate U.S. Highway 67's designation as Interstate 57 on Thursday".
6. (2025-03-19). "New I-57 signs replace old Highway 67 markers in Northeast Arkansas". KJNB-TV.
7. {{Illinois road map. (1959)
8. (September 27, 1961). "Kerner Dedicates Interstate 57 33-Mile Section". [[Herald and Review]].
9. Michael, Terry. (December 9, 1969). "Open I-57 Here Today...". [[Mt. Vernon Register-News]].
10. (March 25, 1967). "Dan Ryan Leg to Step Up Building Out Southwest". [[Chicago Tribune]].
11. Ogilvie, Richard B.. (December 29, 1971). "Ogilvie Calls I-57 'lifeline linking people of state'". [[Southern Illinoisan]].
12. (March 9, 1972). "Decision on I-57 Scheduled Today". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].
13. (December 10, 1974). "Burlington Road to become 142". [[The Journal Times]].
14. "I-57/I-70 Rehabilitation". Lochmueller Group.
15. (October 25, 2014). "Interchange connecting I-57, I-294 opens".
16. "I-294/I-57 Interchange Project - Phase 2". [[Illinois State Toll Highway Authority]].
17. (November 2, 2024). "Arkansas to celebrate U.S. Highway 67's designation as Interstate 57 on Thursday".
18. Northeast Arkansas News. (2025-03-19). "New I-57 signs replace old Highway 67 markers in Northeast Arkansas".
19. (February 27, 2023). "Extension of I-57 to impact national traffic, Poplar Bluff and Arkansas economies". Southeast Missourian.
20. "Statutory Listing of Corridor Descriptions". [[Federal Highway Administration]].
21. "Arkansas Highway to Receive 'Future I-57' Designation".
22. (November 8, 2024). "Highway 67 now designated as Interstate 57, will soon connect North Little Rock to Chicago". KARK.
23. (August 1, 2010). "MoDOT Celebrates Completion of US 60 Four-Lane Project with Caravan". [[The Southeast Missourian]].
24. "U.S. 67 (Future I-57) in Butler County: Phase 3". Missouri Department of Transportation.
25. (June 2017). "Arkansas 'has a lot of work to do' to bring 'Future I-57' to Missouri line". KASU-TV.
26. (October 25, 2023). "I-57 route identified". Jonesboro Sun.
27. Arkansas Department of Transportation. (October 25, 2023). "Future Interstate 57 Alignment from Walnut Ridge to Missouri State Line Chosen". Arkansas Department of Transportation.
28. ((District 10)). "Corning Bypass (Future I-57)". Arkansas Department of Transportation.
29. (November 6, 2024). "ARDOT to Break Ground on Corning Bypass". Arkansas Department of Transportation.
30. {{MoDOT Flex
31. "Map of Interstate 57 in Illinois".
32. Dykstra, John. (November 3, 2018). "I-57 interchange at Bourbonnais Parkway finally opens". The Daily Journal.