Illinois Route 31

U.S. Route 430
U.S. Route 430
Location	Aurora–Crystal Lake
Existed	1926–1935

Illinois Route 31
Illinois Route 31
	IL 31 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by IDOT
Length	58.41 mi (94.00 km)
Existed	1937–present
Major junctions
South end	US 34 in Oswego
	US 30 in Montgomery; ; ; ; I-88 Toll / IL 56 Toll / IL 110 (CKC) in North Aurora; US 20 in Elgin; ; I-90 Toll in Elgin; US 14 in Crystal Lake;
North end	US 12 in Richmond
Location
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Counties	Kendall, Kane, McHenry
Highway system
	Illinois State Highway System; Interstate; US; State; Tollways; Scenic;

Illinois Route 31 (IL 31) is a 58.41-mile-long (94.00 km) north–south state highway in northeastern Illinois, United States. It travels from U.S. Route 34 (US 34) in Oswego north to US 12, near the Wisconsin state line, just south of Richmond.^[1]

Route description

IL 31 follows the Fox River along the western bank. It parallels IL 25, which travels along the eastern bank of the Fox River. It travels concurrent with IL 120 in McHenry.

IL 31 is called Richmond Road north of IL 120 and Front Street south of IL 120 in McHenry, Main Street in Algonquin, Western Avenue in Carpentersville, Eighth Street in West Dundee, State Street in Elgin, La Fox Street in South Elgin, Second Street in St. Charles, First Street in Geneva, Batavia Avenue in Batavia, Lincolnway Street in North Aurora, Lake Street (Southbound) and River Street (Northbound) in Aurora, and Lake Street in Montgomery. It is also, along with IL 25, signed as part of the Fox River Valley area. IL 31 between Aurora and Geneva was considered part of the Lincoln Highway transcontinental route.

The Western Algonquin Bypass was completed in 2014^[3] and redirects traffic around downtown Algonquin.

History

SBI Route 31 traveled from Quincy to Canton along various routes.^[4] This was dropped in 1935 and was replaced with US 24.^[5] In 1937, it was reapplied along other routes on its modern routing. There have been no changes to the routing since.^[2]

U.S. Route 430

U.S. Route 430 (US 430) was commissioned from 1926 to 1935 in the U.S. state of Illinois, and traveled from Aurora to Crystal Lake.^[6] It traveled concurrently with US 30 from Aurora to Geneva at present-day IL 38. In 1934, US 430 was removed north of West Dundee after US 14 was formed.^[4] In 1935, US 430 was decommissioned after US 330 was extended north from Geneva to West Dundee.^[5] The northern extension was later removed in 1937 in favor of IL 31 and the western extension of US 330 to Dixon.^[2]^[7]

Future

McHenry

The intersection of IL 31 and IL 120 is now the most congested intersection in McHenry County.^{[citation needed]}

IDOT is currently in Phase 1 of a planned widening of IL 31 from IL 176 in Crystal Lake to IL 120 in McHenry.^[8]

A bypass of McHenry continues to appear in documents planning for a Metra station at Prairie Grove, that include an interchange with the existing IL 31 alignment and the proposed west McHenry bypass alignment to the north of Gracy Road.^[9]

The west McHenry bypass was originally planned to travel over undeveloped farm lands from north of IL 31 and Gracy Road to IL 120 and Ringwood Road. The corridor was planned to be protected from development in the mid-1990s, but because of a lack of funding, the corridor was never protected from development^[10] and has since been developed.^[11]

Algonquin

The Western Algonquin Bypass is not the only limited-access bypass on the table as of 2015.^[12] A southern Algonquin bypass is being constructed as the Longmeadow Parkway, that will have a grade separation with Route 31.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi^[13]	km	Destinations	Notes
Kendall	Oswego	0.0	0.0	US 34 (Washington Street, Walter Payton Memorial Highway)	Southern terminus of IL 31
Kane	Montgomery	2.8	4.5	US 30 – Joliet, Sugar Grove	Interchange
	Aurora	5.6	9.0	Lincoln Highway east (Benton Street)	Southern end of Lincoln Highway concurrency
	North Aurora	8.6	13.8	I-88 Toll / IL 56 Toll west / IL 110 (CKC) (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) – DeKalb, Chicago	Southern end of IL 56 concurrency; I-88 exit 117
		9.4	15.1	IL 56 east (West State Street)	Northern end of IL 56 concurrency
		10.3	16.6	CR 71 west (Mooseheart Road)
	Batavia	13.7	22.0	CR 8 (Fabyan Parkway)
	Geneva	15.4	24.8	IL 38 (State Street) / Lincoln Highway west
	St. Charles	17.4	28.0	IL 64 (Main Street)
	Elgin	26.4	42.5	US 20 (Elgin Bypass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Highway, Grant Highway) – Rockford, Chicago	Interchange
	Elgin	29.7	47.8	I-90 Toll (Jane Addams Memorial Tollway) – Chicago, Rockford, Wisconsin	I-90 exit 54; cloverleaf interchange
	West Dundee	31.9	51.3	IL 72 (Higgins Road, Main Street)
McHenry	Algonquin	37.0	59.5	IL 62 east / CR A48 west (Algonquin Road)	Western terminus of IL 62; Interchange
	Crystal Lake			CR A45 west (James R Rakow Road, Central Park Drive)	Eastern terminus of McHenry CR A45
		41.2	66.3	US 14 (Northwest Highway, Ronald Reagan Highway)	Interchange
		42.8	68.9	IL 176 (Terra Cotta Avenue)
	McHenry	49.5	79.7	IL 120 west (Elm Street)	Western end of IL 120 concurrency
	McHenry	49.9	80.3	IL 120 east (Elm Street)	Eastern end of IL 120 concurrency
	Richmond	57.9	93.2	US 12
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus

References

^ ^a ^b Illinois Technology Transfer Center (2007). "T2 GIS Data". Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c Carlson, Rich (March 15, 2006). "Routes 21 thru 40". Illinois State Highways Page. Retrieved March 22, 2006.^{[self-published source]}
^ "Algonquin Western Bypass opens to traffic". Northwest Herald. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
^ ^a ^b Illinois Secretary of State; Rand McNally (1934). Official Road Map Illinois (Map). [c. 1:950,000 and c. 1:1,110,000]. Springfield: Illinois Secretary of State. OCLC 183709045 – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^ ^a ^b ^c Illinois Secretary of State; H.M. Gousha (1935). Official Road Map Illinois (Map). [c. 1:950,000 and c. 1:1,110,000]. Springfield: Illinois Secretary of State – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^ Illinois Secretary of State (1932). Official Illinois Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:950,000 and c. 1:1,110,000]. Springfield: Illinois Division of Highways – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^ Illinois Secretary of State; Rand McNally (1939). Illinois Road Map (Map) (1939–1940 ed.). c. 1:918,720. Springfield: Illinois Secretary of State – via Illinois Digital Archives.
^ "Illinois Route 31 Study". Retrieved February 13, 2017.
^ "Town Center & Transit-Oriented Development Plan" (PDF). Village of Prairie Grove, Illinois. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
^ "County Maps Out Bypass". Chicago Tribune. August 8, 1995. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
^ "Overview Map of Illinois Route 31" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
^ "Construction Project: Longmeadow Parkway Bridge Corridor". Kane County Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
^ "Illinois Route 31" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved January 2, 2013.