 Interstate 94 | |
|---|---|
 I-94 highlighted in red | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 1,555.43 mi[1] (2,503.22 km) |
| Existed | 1958–present |
| NHS | Entire route |
| Major junctions | |
| West end |    I-90 /US 87 /US 212 inLockwood, MT |
| Major intersections | |
| East end |  Highway 402 atCanadian border onBlue Water Bridge inPort Huron, MI |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| States | Montana,North Dakota,Minnesota,Wisconsin,Illinois,Indiana,Michigan |
| Highway system | |
Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–westInterstate Highway connecting theGreat Lakes and northernGreat Plains regions of theUnited States. Its western terminus is just east ofBillings, Montana, at a junction withI-90; its eastern terminus is inPort Huron, Michigan, where it meets withI-69 and crosses theBlue Water Bridge intoSarnia, Ontario, Canada, where the route becomesOntario Highway 402. It thus lies along the primary overland route fromSeattle (via I-90) toToronto (viaOntario Highway 401) and is the only east–west Interstate Highway to have a direct connection to Canada. It is the longest Interstate whose route number is not divisible by 5.
I-94 intersects with I-90 several times: at its western terminus;Tomah toMadison in Wisconsin; inChicago, Illinois; and inLake Station, Indiana. Major cities that I-94 connects to are Billings,Bismarck,Fargo,Minneapolis–Saint Paul,Madison,Milwaukee, Chicago, andDetroit.
| mi[1] | km | |
|---|---|---|
| MT | 219.38 | 353.06 |
| ND | 352.39 | 567.12 |
| MN | 259.49 | 417.61 |
| WI | 341.02 | 548.82 |
| IL | 61.53 | 99.02 |
| IN | 46.13 | 74.24 |
| MI | 275.49 | 443.36 |
| Total | 1,555.43 | 2,503.22 |
I-94 begins atBillings and travels northeastward towardGlendive before exiting the state to the east. I-94 links seven counties, which areYellowstone,Treasure,Rosebud,Custer,Prairie,Dawson, andWibaux counties and passes near or throughMiles City and Glendive while connecting with I-90 in Billings. The highway is notable for following theYellowstone River from Billings through Glendive. Beyond the western terminus of I-94, I-90 connects westbound I-94 travelers to points west such asButte;Missoula;Coeur d'Alene, Idaho;Spokane, Washington; andSeattle, Washington.
The route enters atBeach and passes through theBadlands nearMedora (near theTheodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit). Further east, I-94 provides access to the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, then passes through the cities ofDickinson,Mandan,Bismarck,Jamestown, andValley City on the way toWest Fargo andFargo, where it leaves the state and crosses into Minnesota. Throughout the state, the route generally travels relatively straight east and west following both therailroad route and the former route ofUS Route 10 (US 10, called "The Old Red Trail") where its western terminus is at exit 343 in West Fargo.
The highway intersects with theEnchanted Highway 11 miles (18 km) east of Dickinson at exit 72. AtNew Salem, it passesSalem Sue, a 38-foot-high (12 m) sculpture of aHolstein cow and is clearly visible from I-94 on the south side of the road. A drive up the road to Sue will take visitors to a vantage point where they can see a panoramic landscape for many miles. Between Mandan and Bismarck, I-94 crosses the Missouri River with a view of theNorthern Pacific/BNSF Railway Bridge on the south side of the road. AtSteele, it passes the world's largest sculpture of asandhill crane (named Sandy), which is 40 feet (12 m) tall and visible from I-94 on the south side of the road, just to the east of exit 200. AtJamestown, it passes the world's largest sculpture of thebuffalo (actually bison) named "Dakota Thunder", which is 28 feet (8.5 m) tall and is visible from I-94 on the north side of the road.US 52 is concurrent with I-94 from Jamestown to the Minnesota state line. approximately milemarker 275 on the westbound lanes between Jamestown and Valley City, there is a small green sign marking theLaurentian Divide, which marks a continental divide where rivers south of the divide drain into theGulf of Mexico, while the rivers north flow into theArctic Ocean. The highway reaches Fargo, before theRed River.
Leaving Fargo and enteringMoorhead, Minnesota, I-94/US 52 crosses the Red River. East ofMoorhead Municipal Airport, the Interstate travels in a northwest–southeast trajectory pastFergus Falls,Alexandria, andSt. Cloud on the way to theTwin Cities and eastward out of the state.
The road crosses theMississippi River inMinneapolis between theProspect Park andSeward neighborhoods. As it crosses over the only true gorge along the Mississippi's entire 2,350-mile (3,780 km) length, where steep bluffs extend to the waterline.[2] The highway joins Minneapolis andSaint Paul together where it meetsMinnesota State Highway 280 (MN 280).US 52 leaves I-94 after running concurrently with I-94 from the North Dakota state line and heads southbound towardRochester. In the Twin Cities, the routing of the highway is politically charged, primarily through many historic working-class andBlack neighborhoods.[3][4] In Saint Paul, the routing of I-94 is set through and displaces the historicRondo neighborhood, which prior to the highway construction was the largest Black community in Saint Paul.[5][6][4]
East of Saint Paul, I-94 leaves Minnesota betweenLakeland, Minnesota, andHudson, Wisconsin, while crossing theSt. Croix River.
I-94 entersWisconsin east of the Twin Cities atHudson. It traverses the hilly terrain of northwest Wisconsin, crossing theRed Cedar River nearMenomonie. East of Menomonie, I-94 junctions withWIS 29, a major East–West expressway connecting I-94 withWausau, andGreen Bay. It then passesEau Claire before turning southeastward and joining withI-90 inTomah. Southeast of Tomah, the highway passes the major tourist area ofWisconsin Dells. Here, vacationers can find a multitude of water parks, camping, amusement parks, zoos, river excursions, as well as lodging and shopping. Further southeast, I-94 joins up withI-39 inPortage at the base ofCascade Mountain, a popular ski area. Just south of Cascade Mountain, I-94 crosses over theWisconsin River. I-94 leaves I-90 and I-39 east of the state capitol ofMadison and resumes its easterly path towardMilwaukee. I-94 weaves its way intoDowntown Milwaukee before turning south and heading toChicago, enteringIllinois atPleasant Prairie.
In the state ofIllinois, I-94 runs south from Wisconsin to Indiana via downtownChicago. It is tolled on the Tri-State Tollway to the I-94/I-294 split; it then runs east to the Edens Expressway, where it soon joins again with I-90 on the Kennedy Expressway and turns south through the city of Chicago. I-90 leaves south of downtown Chicago to the Chicago Skyway. AtI-80, I-94 runs east to Indiana on theKingery Expressway.
In the state ofIndiana, I-94 runs east from Illinois concurrently with I-80. It crosses I-90 (Indiana Toll Road), where I-80 joins I-90 east towardOhio. I-94 continues northeasterly, paralleling theLake Michigan shoreline into Michigan. The 55-mile-per-hour (89 km/h) speed limit used to continue east of exit 26; now it ends a mile (1.6 km) east of I-80/I-90, where the speed limit goes up to 70 mph (110 km/h) on eastbound I-94.[7] Between milemarkers 0.0 and 15.5, the highway is also posted along with I-80. Between milemarkers 15.6 and 19.0, I-94 is posted alone.
I-94 runs north alongLake Michigan toSt. Joseph andBenton Harbor where it meetsUS 31 andI-196 before heading east towardDetroit. It turns northeast toPort Huron where it meetsI-69 and ends at theBlue Water Bridge, where it becomesOntario Highway 402 inPoint Edward, Ontario.
The first section of I-94 completed with Interstate funds (under theFederal-Aid Highway Act of 1956) was a 12-mile (19 km) section between Jamestown and Valley City, North Dakota, in 1958.
North ofChicago, I-94 has been widened from six to eight lanes fromIllinois Route 22 (IL 22, Half Day Road) to just south of the Wisconsin state line atIL 173 and 95th Street to 159th Street. Construction began in 2009 to completely rebuild I-94, including expansion to eight lanes, from the Wisconsin–Illinois border through the Mitchell Interchange in Milwaukee. This construction is expected to be completed in 2021.[8][needs update]
In 2005, the I-94 bridge over the Crow River nearSt. Michael, Minnesota, about 35 miles (56 km) northwest ofMinneapolis, was rebuilt. In 2006, a project to widen I-94 east ofDowntown Saint Paul betweenMN 120 and McKnight Road from four to six lanes was completed. The interchange at 95th Avenue North inMaple Grove, Minnesota, was rebuilt with a new, wider bridge that replaced the two-lane bridge there, which was demolished in July 2006.
The expandedMarquette Interchange inDowntown Milwaukee was completed in August 2008 at a cost of $810 million (equivalent to $1.13 billion in 2023[9]).
In Detroit, I-94 was routed over the existing Edsel Ford Freeway and remained signed as such until the late 1980s when Michigan deemphasized proper names on Interstate guide signs. Its interchange with theLodge Freeway, built in 1953, is significant as the first full-speed freeway-to-freeway interchange built in the US.[10]
From September 2007 to October 2008, theMinnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) added a temporary extra lane to I-94 between northboundI-35W andMinnesota State Highway 280 in the Twin Cities to help relieve traffic congestion caused by the collapse of theI-35W Mississippi River bridge. As a result, this portion of I-94 was not up toInterstate Highway standards during this time period.
I-90 /US 87 /US 212 inBillings
US 12 nearMiles City
US 85 inBelfield
I-194 inBismarck (unsigned, carried by theBismarck Expressway)
US 83 in Bismarck
US 52 /US 281 inJamestown
US 10 inWest Fargo
I-29 /US 81 inFargo
I-494 /I-694 inMaple Grove; access to the west end of theTwin Citiesbeltway
I-394 inMinneapolis; the spur route from Minneapolis toMinnetonka
I-35W inMinneapolis; concurrent for less than one mile (1.6 km)
I-35E inSt. Paul; concurrent for less than one-half mile (0.80 km)I-494 /I-694 inOakdale-Woodbury; the east end of the Twin Cities beltway
US 53 inEau ClaireI-90 inTomah; concurrent untilMadison
I-39 atPortage; concurrent until Madison
I-41 /I-894 inWest Allis
I-43 /I-794 inMilwaukeeI-41 /I-43 /I-894 in MilwaukeeI-41 inZion
I-294 inDeerfieldI-90 inChicago; concurrent through to the junction with the Chicago Skyway
I-55 in ChicagoI-90 in Chicago
I-57 in Chicago
I-80 /I-294 inSouth Holland; concurrent untilLake Station, Indiana
I-65 inGary
US 41 inHammond
US 6 in Lake StationI-80 /I-90 inLake Station
US 421 near Michigan City
US 20 /US 35 nearMichigan City
I-196 /US 31 nearBenton Harbor
US 131 inKalamazooI-194 inBattle Creek
I-69 inMarshall
US 127 inJackson
US 23 nearAnn Arbor
I-275 inRomulus
US 24 inTaylor
I-96 inDetroit
I-75 in Detroit
I-696 inRosevilleI-69 inPort Huron; concurrent to the borderHighway 402 atCanadian border
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1Unsigned2Proposed3Unbuilt4Former | ||
 PrimaryInterstate Highways | |
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| Signed | |
| Unsigned | |
| Lists | |
| Other | |
Routes initalics are no longer a part of the system. Major Interstates are highlighted. | |
| International | |
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| Geographic | |
