Interstate 24 (I-24) is part of the Interstate Highway System that runs between Pulleys Mill, Illinois, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. In the U.S. state of Illinois, I-24 runs from its western terminus with I-57 to the Ohio River at the Kentucky state line near Metropolis. I-24 is located entirely in the southern portion of the state and is the most rural of Illinois' Interstate Highways. Despite this, the Interstate is part of a major corridor for traffic between the Southeastern United States and the St. Louis and Chicago urban areas. When the Interstate system was first created in 1956, I-24 was to terminate in Nashville, Tennessee. An effort quickly arose to extend the interstate to the northwest to improve connectivity between the Southeast and Midwestern United States. Several alignments for I-24 through Illinois were proposed over the next several years, including routes that would continue to St. Louis and others that would provide access to St. Louis via connections with other Interstate Highways. In 1963, an agreement was reached between the states of Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee for I-24's extension, and this was approved by the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), the predecessor to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the following year. Construction on I-24 in Illinois began in 1968 with the Ohio River Bridge, and the Interstate was opened in three sections between 1974 and 1976.

Route description

I-24 is maintained by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) along with all other non-tolled Interstate Highways, U.S. and state routes in Illinois. In 2025, annual average daily traffic counts ranged approximately from 18,500 vehicles south of Vienna to 28,600 vehicles at the Kentucky state line.

I-24 begins at exit 44 on I-57 in southern Williamson County, near the community of Pulleys Mill in Southern Illinois. Running in a northwest–southeast alignment through mostly farmland, the highway immediately heads through rural Johnson County, crossing a railroad and Illinois Route 37 (IL 37) without an interchange. The Interstate bypasses Goreville and Ferne Clyffe State Park to the east, before reaching an exit at Tunnel Hill Road, which serves Goreville and Tunnel Hill. The highway continues south through woodlands to its next exit at U.S. Route 45 (US 45) north of Vienna. It reaches its next exit at IL 146 in eastern Vienna a few miles later. I-24 heads southeast from Vienna into Massac County through additional farmland and woodlands. Its first exit in Massac County is at Big Bay Road next to Lake New Zeigler, which serves the communities of Big Bay and New Columbia. I-24 continues southward, crossing another railroad and bypassing the community of Round Knob before entering Metropolis. The highway meets US 45 again in Metropolis and passes west of Fort Massac State Park. It leaves Metropolis and crosses the I-24 Bridge over the Ohio River, a two-span tied-arch bridge, into Kentucky.

History When the Interstate Highway System was established in 1956, I-24 was to run between Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1957, the states of Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee began an effort to improve connectivity between the St. Louis area and the Southeastern United States, which included extending I-24 northwest of Nashville. The first major proposal, which was included in a list of potential additions to the Interstate system in October 1957, had I-24 cross the Ohio River from Kentucky and terminate with I-57 in Cairo. This evolved into new conceptualizations that had I-24 cross the Ohio River near Cairo and run in an east-west alignment, before crossing the Mississippi River into Missouri a short distance beyond. From here, the Interstate would continue to St. Louis or terminate with I-55 near Cape Girardeau or Charleston, Missouri. This alignment was favored by officials in Tennessee and western Kentucky, and later by the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), the predecessor agency to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). In February 1958, engineers in Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee recommended I-24 cross the Ohio River near Metropolis. Later that year, a new alignment in Illionis was proposed to run through Herrin and Marion and cross the Ohio River between Golconda and Rosiclare. This route was part of a longer "straight-line" route between St. Louis and Nashville that was proposed by a group composed of delegates from cities along the route who argued it was more cost effective. A crossing near Shawneetown was proposed in 1959. The four states had difficulty reaching a consensus for the proposed routing and spent the next several years studying different proposals. This was particularly complicated by different routes in Kentucky and Tennessee that were proposed in the early 1960s. By 1960, an alignment that terminated with I-57 south of Marion and crossed the river near Metropolis was proposed. From its end at I-57, traffic bound for St. Louis would take I-57 north to Mount Vernon, and then use I-64 westbound.

In March 1961, officials in Metropolis protested the Cairo-to-St. Louis alignment after it was endorsed by Kentucky highway commissioner Henry Ward. In July 1961, another route to the east with a river crossing between Golconda and Rosiclare that terminated with I-57 in Marion near IL 13 was proposed by a group of Golconda businessmen. This quickly evolved into several different proposed routes, including a crossing into Evansville, Indiana, and on August 20, 1961, a five-person delegation composed of delegates from the four states and Indiana reached an agreement that I-24 should cross the Ohio River near Paducah, Kentucky. The routing of I-24 through Illinois remained contentious, however. By 1963, the Pulleys Mill-to-Metropolis route was favored by officials in Illinois and Kentucky, although Cairo and Missouri officials preferred the original proposal, and a consulting firm found the original proposal to be more economically feasible in June of that year. The states also incorporated a new Interstate Highway, which was once proposed to be named I-24W, between I-55 in Hayti, Missouri, and I-40 in Jackson, Tennessee. This included a then-unbuilt bridge across the Mississippi River that had been proposed since the 1930s. On September 17, 1963, the governors of the four states, in a meeting with President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Luther H. Hodges, and BPR Administrator Rex Marion Whitton, reached a compromise on the alignment for I-24's extension. This alignment included the route between Pulleys Mill and Metropolis. They also urged approval of the Hayti-to-Jackson Interstate, and Missouri Governor John M. Dalton said that his state would not accept the I-24 routing unless a bridge between Missouri and Tennessee was approved. However, Dalton agreed that the Cairo alignment, which would have crossed the Mississippi River approximately west of the Ohio River crossing, would have been too costly. On August 18, 1964, the BPR approved the new alignment for the western I-24 extension between Pulleys Mill and Nashville, as well as part of the Missouri-to-Tennessee Interstate, which they named I-155.

After it was approved, the section of I-24 in Illinois was authorized for engineering by 1966 and authorized for construction by 1968. In June 1968, construction began on the Ohio River bridge. Initially slated for completion in 1970, the project experienced many delays caused by poor weather and faulty welds that were repaired with bolts. The first section of I-24 in Illinois, located between US 45 in Vienna and US 45 in Metropolis, was dedicated and opened by Governor Dan Walker on January 15, 1974. On October 18, 1974, the stretch between US 45 in Metropolis and US 60 in Paducah, including the Ohio River bridge, opened to traffic. This was also the first stretch of I-24 to open in Kentucky. The final segment of I-24 in Illinois, located between I-57 and US 45 in Vienna, was dedicated and opened to traffic by Governor Walker on January 24, 1976. In its early years, the Ohio River Bridge was inspected more frequently due to design problems that arose during construction. On August 3, 1979, the bridge was closed to all traffic after structural problems were discovered during an inspection, including 119 cracks that resulted from defective welding in the tie girders. On October 16, 1980, the westbound span reopened with one lane in each direction and a prohibition of trucks and other heavy vehicles. Both spans fully reopened to all traffic with all four lanes on May 12, 1981.

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