How to Travel Illinois' Interstate 190

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Last Updated: December 25, 2024

If you've ever found yourself at O'Hare International Airport and needed to get back onto I-90 with signage to such a place, you'll most likely have taken I-190. Although it's only 3.07 miles (4.94 km) long,^{[1]
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1

Learn about the interstate leadup.

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This interstate travels from the airport's end. However, while not entirely expressway along the airport circle at O'Hare International Airport, it has some properties of one. It has no sign marking the entrance from the west^{[2]
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2

Travel the interstate.

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In this section of the highway, it travels about a mile, heading southeast from the airport loop entrance until it reaches just west of its first main exit at Bessie Coleman Dr. Then, it swings more northeast until it reaches another exit at I-294, and evens out more, then swings into its endpoint.
- In this span, you'll have several exits in Chicago, then a few in Rosemont, followed by a few more in Chicago, and out it comes.
  - Travel in Chicago. In this section, there are three official exits. One is the main first exit (unmarked number) for O'Hare International Airport. Following that, you'll have the exit for Bessie Coleman Dr (which leads to the International Terminal^{[3]
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    - Leading up to I-294, the highway contains only two lanes in each direction, however, all exits are made of cloverleaf interchanges.^{[4]
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    - Also down the exit leading to the International Terminal is Budget Car Rental and the O'Hare Airport Transit System building, and Economy Lots E and G.
- Down exit 2, you'll spot access to Air Canada Cargo, the Chicago Department of Aviation AMC Building, Chicago O'Hare Car Rental, Rosemont-Lange Park Ball Field, Hertz Car Rental O'Hare Airport, and O'Hare Transfer.
  - Travel in Rosemont. Here you'll see a few exits. The first is for I-294 S (exit 1D), the next is for I-294 N to I-90N as the Tri-State Tollway to Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (exit 1C), and the last one is marked as 1B going this direction for River Rd (with exit 1A going the opposite way).
    - Wikipedia's information says it becomes a larger expressway west of I-294. It obtains one additional lane in each direction and sends cars onto its main interstate as a six-lane highway (three lanes in each direction).^{[5]
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    - Down exit 1A/B, you can get to the Westin O'Hare, Hyatt Regency O'Hare Chicago, Ballpark at Rosemont, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Crown Plaza Chicago-Ohare Hotel, Rosemont Theater and Fashion Outlets of Chicago, Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Comfort Suites Chicago O'Hare Airport, and Schiller Park.
- Travel within Chicago's borders. In this section, you'll be at the exiting end, where the road terminates at its farthest point to the east. Wikipedia mentions its exit is 0, but Google Maps describes no exit number for it except one from I-90 itself, as it just "terminates" heading onto its final highway, though some still split off onto a secondary roadway.

3

Cross over onto the main highway, as this one ends.

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As this route ends, it gathers whatever cars it has left behind and travels straight up until it travels underneath the exit from I-90 then splits. The split sends some cars onto I-90, and others (to the right) past Presidents Plaza and out onto N Cumberland Ave near the Greyhound Bus Terminal, as a small road with a traffic light, or continuing along a loop onto W Bryn Mawr Ave and an alternate traffic light.

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Wikipedia lists this highway as the "westernmost leg of the Kennedy Expressway."^{[6]
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For the entire length of the highway, the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue operates in the median.^{[7]
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As Wikipedia said, they listed their route details according to IDOT data because IDOT lists it from O'Hare eastward - and the most logical route for them,^{[8]
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Research source} though exit numbers are presented illogically going eastward and out of the conventional naming system for exit numbering.

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