U.S. Route 52 (US 52) in the state of Illinois is a surface road that traverses the north central and eastern portions of the state. It runs from the Dale Gardner Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River between Sabula, Iowa, and Savanna with Illinois Route 64 (IL 64) southeast to the Indiana state line near Sheldon with US 24. This is a distance of .
Route description
US 52 travels southeast from the Dale Gardner Veterans Memorial Bridge at the terminus of Iowa Highway 64 (Iowa 64) and IL 64 in Savanna, going through the cities of Dixon, Amboy and Mendota.
US 52 then turns due south and then east, crossing Interstate 39 (I-39) and US 51 near Troy Grove. It continues east, traveling through Shorewood and then through the southern portion of Joliet, where it is a major thoroughfare in the city of Joliet (Jefferson Street), avoiding the city of Chicago proper. It joins with US 45 through Kankakee, and then travels concurrently with US 24, east of Watseka to the Indiana state line.
History In 1935, US 52 was extended northwest from Fowler, Indiana to an international border crossing at Portal, North Dakota. Subsequently in Illinois, the entirety of Illinois Route 27, which ran between Savanna and Polo, was replaced by US 52. Portions of the following routes were also replaced: Illinois Route 2 between Dixon and Mendota Illinois Route 69 (IL 69) between Troy Grove and Lisbon Illinois Routes 113 and 113S between Coal City and Kankakee Illinois Route 49 between Kankakee and L'Erable Illinois Route 116 between L'Erable and Sheldon.
In 1940, US 52 was rerouted to directly serve Joliet, having previously bypassed the city via the aforementioned routes, routing through what was then called Barr Highway. Subsequently, the rest of IL 69 and the entirety of Illinois Route 44 were decommissioned.
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