(abbreviated '''I-180''') is a north-south spur highway that runs from
Princeton, Illinois to the small town of
Hennepin, Illinois on its southern terminus. It is 13.19 miles (21.22 km) long.
The freeway was built primarily to connect
Interstate 80 to a steel plant in Hennepin. However, the steel plant closed soon after I-180 was built, and did not re-open until August 2002. Although the steel plant is now operational, I-180 is still one of the least traveled interstates in the nation, serving an average of 2,000 - 2,500 vehicles per day. (For comparable numbers,
Interstate 190 connecting O'Hare to Chicago serves 109,000 vehicles per day,
Interstate 80 serves 20,900 vehicles per day in that area, and remote
Interstate 24 downstate serves 15,000 vehicles per day.)
''Italicized'' destinations are unofficial
Control Cities . Control cities are not provided at all interchanges on Interstate 180.
- I-180 intersects U.S. Highway 6 ; it also serves as the beginning of a northern path to Peoria, Illinois by connecting to Illinois Route 29 , making it one of the proposed routes of the Peoria-to-Chicago Highway .
- Illinois 26 is multiplexed with the highway over the Illinois River . Northwest of the river crossing, Illinois 26 and Interstate 180 meet again between Princeton and Bureau Junction .
- Illinois 71 begins at Interstate 180 and continues to the east, serving as the main east-west artery east of Hennepin along with U.S. 6.
- In spite of the fact that Interstate 180 was completed in 1969, its exits remain unnumbered.
