US 40 and the National Road in Western Indiana |
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Illinois State LineSadly, we reached the end of our journey when we met Illinois. The north-south road on the map is signed State Line Road.
This old US 40 alignment moved into Illinois as so many roads do -- with a change in pavement. The speed limit also increased, from 35 MPH in Indiana to 55 MPH in Illinois. We wondered why the same road merited 20 extra miles per hour in Illinois. We drove into Illinois a little ways and found our answer -- the road is signed US 40. This is curious, since US 40 is also multiplexed with I 70 just to the south. This photo looks from Indiana into Illinois.
This photo looks from Illinois into Indiana. The words "Start Race" are painted in orange on the pavement on the Illinois side where the Indiana pavement begins. My friend Michael explained that on the same day, the Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) started from that point and toured 161 miles of US 40 and the National Road all the way to the Ohio state line. This explained all the bicycles we saw heading eastbound on US 40 when we were west of Plainfield!
Hard to believe that narrow, shoulderless little road was once US 40. After a brief tour of Terre Haute, which included driving the former 7th St/Lafayette Rd/Clinton Rd alignment of US 41, we drove back home on US 40, stopping briefly to look at antiques in Brazil. We started our tour at about 9:30 am and didn't get home until almost 7 pm -- a long time for a trip that, if you drove I-70 and didn't stop, you could easily make in under three hours! |
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Created July 2006. Last update 29 February 2008. |
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