SBI Route 61 was Richmond to Crystal Lake, now part of IL-31.

IL-61 is currently used from US-136 west of Macomb to Ursa, in McDonough, Hancock, and Adams County.

SBI Route 62 was Algonquin to Chicago on Algonquin Road west of Des Plaines. In Des Plaines this was on Oakton Street, and then in Park Ridge it was on Talcott Road into Chicago. IL-62 ended at IL-43 (Harlem Ave.)

In 1974 IL-62 was removed east of IL-83 in Des Plaines.

SBI Route 63 was East Dundee to North Barrington. It was on the current IL-68 East Dundee to Barrington Hills, IL-59 to North Barrington. This had been posted as IL-22A in 1924. IL-63 was the same plus extended with IL-22 east from North Barrington to Lake Zurich where it took Midlothian Road NE to Mundelien, followed IL-176 east to Libertyville, and then took the current IL-21 north to Gurnee, where it ended at the junction with US-41.

In the 1930's, IL-63 was marked as starting on the north side of Chicago, running west on Addison to Nagle, north to Higgines then west (with US-14 at the time) to Dundee where it then took a dogleg northeast on the current IL-68 (Dundee Road) to Barrington.

1973: IL-21 replaced IL-63 from Libertyville to Gurnee, and IL-137 replaced IL-21 from Libertyville to Grayslake. IL-68 replaced IL-63 from East Dundee to Barrington Hills, and IL-63 was dropped on the rest of its route.

SBI Route 64 was Sycamore to Chicago.

• 1937: Extended west from Sycamore on a new highway to US-51 (Now IL-251).
• It then replaced IL-77 from here to Brookville, at US-52, and then continued on to IA with US-52 to meet IA-64. 

IL-64 is known as North Ave in and around Chicago. The states of Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska cooperated in some way and made a continuous route 64 from Chicago to west of Omaha thru Iowa. Why is another question. There already were 3 US routes that did that (US-6, US-30, US-34). What makes this even more weird is that there was/is another state route that does a similar trek. IL-92 runs from near Mendota IL to Torrington WY thru IA and NE.

In the 1930's IL-64 left North Avenue east of Villa Park and went east into Maywood on St. Charles Road.

In IL, US-66 ran from Jackson and Michigan in Chicago west with US-34 to Ogden Avenue, then to IL-42A (Now IL-43). US-34 continued west, while US-66 headed south a mile or so to Joliet Road. US-66 went west from here to Joliet, then Bloomington-Normal, Springfield and then St. Louis.

US-66 is the most famous highway in the US. This was a route from Chicago to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Tulsa, Amarillo and Flagstaff that inspired a song recorded by half the known population of North America, a TV show, movies, and countless books.

In the St. Louis area the road had been relocated several times. It crossed the Mississippi River at the Chain of Rocks Bridge from 1937 until 1957 when it crossed into St. Louis' downtown on the Veterans Bridge. US-66 was eventually replaced in IL by I-55 and I-270.

When US-66 was originally built it went from Chicago to Welco (Now Bolingbrook) and then south to and thru Joliet, and eventually to Dwight, Pontiac, Bloomington, Springfield and beyond. It was rerouted several times around various towns, but the biggest rerouting occurred from Welco to Gardner.

Reroutings included near Joliet, where 66 was once on what is now IL-53 into Joliet, and then was moved to what was then (and is again) IL-126 into Plainfield to IL-59 south to Wilmington, then to Gardner. The old route became Alternate-US-66, then IL-53.

A magnificent bridge was built in 1941 over the then Alton Railroad (Later GM&O, ICG, CMNW, SPCSL, and now Union Pacific) Pequot branch near Gardner. The highway to the south is currently IL-53, and had been Alternate US-66, and before that just plain old US-66. The bridge carried the newer route of US-66 that bypassed Joliet. After the bridge deteriorated beyond repair it was closed (about 1995). While it

In 2001 this bridge was removed. This magnificent steel bridge had fallen into disrepair, so it was closed for safety reasons. Before the bridge was demolished in 2001 it had been offered to preservation groups but it was deemed to expensive to relocate. This bridge was unusual in that it had a "Blast Plate under the deck to prevent locomotive smoke from coating the underdeck. In later days protective shields were installed to keep chunks of the bridge from falling onto the railroad tracks as the bridge deteriorated.

Various bypasses were built at many towns along the way, and some towns have as many as 4 different alignments of US-66 in and around them.

Portions of Old US-66 in the St. Louis area are now parts of IL-157, IL-203, IL-111, and IL-3. Some of these old alignments became Alternate-US-66, Business-US-66, City-US-66, and Bypass-US-66.

This route was proposed to become US-60, and was marked as such on some maps that came out before the road was posted as US-66.

US-66 in IL was posted as "Chicago" or St. Louis" instead of N-S or E-W. during later years of it's existence. This was due to its diagonal orientation in IL. With the even number, it would have officially been classified as an E-W road, although in IL it actually went more N-S distance wise. (Thanks to JayWight2@aol.com)

During the early 1990's, it became very fashionable to retrace old US-66. Us road geeks had been driving it for years, but now it was being publicized in the popular press, and TV specials were being made weekly. Most states along the way of the old US-66 posted signs along the old pavement identifying it as "Historic US-66". There are several museums dedicated to US-66 (Clinton OK, Baxter KS, Vega TX), and even a US-66 Hall of Fame in McLean IL. Most of the old roadway has been reposted in some way by the various states as "Historic US-66"

Most US-66 states use the same type sign, a rectangle containing an outline of the old shield shaped sign with state name in the shield, and the rest of the sign in brown on white stating "Historic" or "Historic Route". Kansas uses different signs, and also paints "66" shields on the pavement for the few miles it ran there. OK has a good chunk of the route as OK-66, and there are still many original US-66 shields and markers along the way in OK. Texas uses slightly different "Old Route 66" signs

In IL, not all portions of the ROW are marked. In places where more than one alignment exists, such as Dwight (4) or Pontiac (3) only one is chosen to be marked. It is usually a portion of the 4 lane version that immediately preceded the I-55 route. Parts of I-55 are also marked as Historic US-66 where it directly replaced US-66.

US-67 has almost as storied a history as US-66 does in Illinois. See if you can follow along...:

US-67 originally ran from East St. Louis to Rock Island via Alton White Hall, Jacksonville, Beardstown, Macomb, and Monmouth. Most of this route had been IL-3 before the US routes came about in the late 1920's.

By 1935 US-67 was rerouted in the Alton area so that instead of crossing the Mississippi River at East St. Louis it crossed on a new bridge at Alton, 20 miles up-river. The old road became Alternate US-67 for a while and eventually became IL-3 and IL-203. Another reroute was from Alton to Jerseyville which the old US-67 became IL-109 north of E. Newbern and IL-100 south.

In about 1951 US-67 was rerouted onto a new road 10 miles east of the old road from Murrayville to Godfrey and the old road thru White Hall and Jerseyville was changed to Alternate US-67. In 1965 Alternate US-67 was changed to IL-267.

In 1962 another reroute occurred, this time from Beardstown to Rushville. The few miles from Frederick to Beardstown was left part of IL-100, the rest reverted to county maintenance.

In 1968 US-67 was rerouted from Jacksonville north to Beardstown onto the existing IL-104 (Jacksonville to near Merodosia) and IL-100 (Near Merodosia to Beardstown). The original road went thru Virginia on what is now IL-78 (Jacksonville to Virginia) and IL-125 (Virginia to Beardstown).

During the 1990's (and finally complete in 2001) a bypass around Jacksonville was built. US-67 was routed to the bypass west of town and the old road became Business US-67. Supposedly in the spring of 2001 this was changed to Business Loop I-72 and Business US-67 was dropped.

In 2001 US-67 was rerouted back onto the original (1940) routing north of Alton to Murrayville and IL-267 was put onto the newer alignment from near Murrayville thru Greenfield to Medora. South of Medora to Godfrey the road retained only IL-111, a second number on this section. This was to accommodate a future "Corridor 67" expressway that will be built in the next decade or so. Construction is slated to begin in 2004. The new expressway is supposed to follow the corridor thru White Hall and Carrollton.

From Macomb north to Monmouth US-67 is currently a "Super Four" 65 MPH, 4 lane highway. The Roseville Bypass was completed in 2003.

US-67 is part of the "Western Illinois Corridor" that also includes IL-336, I-172 and other roads in the area. This area has complained for years that they have been slighted when it comes to road building.

Rick Powell wrote in an M-T-R post regarding Expressway Expansions in early 2004:
* US 67 between the Moline/Rock Island area and Alton, near St. Louis. Portions of this are built, some along the old alignment, some deviating as bypasses. A mixture of expressway/freeway standards. Funding was just released for the Jerseyville bypass..

Prior to 1935 US-67 went to East St. Louis via what is now IL-3 and IL-203, and portions became Alternate-US-67. Jerseyville to Alton was on what is now IL-109 and IL-3.

Alternate US-67 was also used from Murrayville to Alton via Carrollton and White Hall from the 1940's to 1968. This became IL-267 in 1968 and then came full circle to US-67 in 2001.

Business US-67 was used on the original route thru Jacksonville since a bypass around the west side of Jacksonville has been completed. US-67 is routed onto the new bypass, and the old road in town will take the current multiplexed numbers of IL-104 and IL-78 as well as Business US-67.

This has been changed to Business Loop I-72 in 2001.

SBI Route 68 was Lake Bluff to the WI line near Russell on parts of the current IL-131 and US-41.

• This was changed to these routes from 1935 to 1937 in stages.
• 1942: It was used on the current IL-68 from IL-59 to IL-42 thru the Barrington area, Palatine, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Northbrook and Glencoe.
• 1972: It was dropped east of US-41 in Glencoe as part of the Great Purge.
• 1973: It was extended west to East Dundee in place of IL-63 which was dropped at the time. This section west of Barrington had been IL-22A in 1924. 

This is Dundee Road.

SBI Route 70 was Durand to Mendota on the current IL-70 to Rockford, and US-51 from Rockford to Mendota. It was shortened to its current length in 1940 when US-51 was applied.

SBI Route 71 was US-30, from Aurora to US-51 (Now IL-251).

• 1938: Moved to Ottawa to Hennepin replacing IL-7A, IL-89A and part of IL-89.
• 1942: Extended to Oswego, partly as new construction, and partly as a second number on US-52 and IL-47.
• 1947: A new road from Norway to Yorkville was built and IL-71 placed here, and removed from IL-47 and US-52.

SBI Route 72 was Lanark to Starks.

In 1937 IL-72 was extended east from Starks to East Dundee.

In 1938 IL-72 was extended east into Chicago on the then route of US-14, which was relocated to its current route.

In 1973 IL-72 was removed from IL-43 to downtown within Chicago.

In 1982 IL-73 replaced IL-72 on the N-S portion south from near Georgetown thru Lanark to US-52/IL-64.

In the Chicago area IL-72 is Higgins Road.

SBI Route 79 was a short route from East Dubuque to the WI line north of town (3 miles).

In 1938 SBI-79 was changed to IL-35. This route was also US-61 and US-151 from 1971 to 1982 during bridge construction.

In 1967 IL-79 was applied to a road from the Mississippi River to Fall Creek.

In 1989 it was overbuilt partially by IL-336 and IL-79 was removed from the road.

In the 1990's US-36 took the route of former IL-79 until the new bridge over the Mississippi River was completed and US-36 rerouted onto it and off the surface roads altogether in 2000.

SBI Route 80 was Galesburg to near East Dubuque at the WI line.

1936: This was changed to US-150 from Galesburg to the Quad Cities, IL-80 continued north of there.

1964: The remainder of IL-80 (Quad Cities to East Dubuque) was changed to IL-84 since I-80 would be crossing this route.

I-80 starts in Teaneck NJ, across the river from New York City, and heads west to San Francisco. In IL it runs from the IN line at Lansing to the Quad Cities via Joliet and LaSalle, for about 163 miles. It runs as part of the Tri-State Tollway for a few miles as well. The Kingery expressway section east of the Bishop Ford (Calumet) Expressway was opened in 1950.

This was and is occasionally called the "Moline Expressway" in the Chicago area. It was built between 1960 and 1967.

Route overview and markers