Illinois Route 7

Illinois Route 7 (IL 7, Illinois 7) is a northeast–southwest state route in northeastern Illinois. Currently, IL 7 runs from U.S. Route 6 (US 6) at Rockdale north through Joliet, and Crest Hill into Lockport, and then east to Orland Park before terminating at IL 43 in Worth. IL 7 runs for about 28.06 miles (45.16 km).^[1]

Illinois Route 7
IL 7 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by IDOT
Length	28.06 mi[1] (45.16 km)
Existed	November 5, 1918 (1918-11-05)[2]–present
Major junctions
Southwest end	US 6 in Rockdale
Major intersections	I-80 in Joliet US 52 in Joliet US 30 in Crest Hill Historic US 66 / IL 53 in Lockport I-355 Toll in Lockport US 6 in Orland Park US 45 in Orland Park
Northeast end	IL 43 in Worth
Location
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Counties	Will, Cook
Highway system
Illinois State Highway System Interstate US State Tollways Scenic
← IL 6 → IL 8

Route description

Southbound view along IL 7 at I-80

IL 7 follows large portions of the Southwest Highway, one of the original routes from Chicago to Joliet.

IL 7 runs along many major streets and overlaps several other routes. It joins with IL 53 in Crest Hill, US 30 (Plainfield Road) in Crest Hill and with US 6 at 159th Street between Lockport and Orland Park. Between Rockdale and Worth, IL 7 runs via old US 66, 159th Street, 143rd Street, Wolf Road, Southwest Highway, and Larkin Avenue, among many others.

History

SBI Route 7 originally ran from East Moline to Chicago, mostly on current US 6 and IL 7. When US 6 was designated, IL 7 was dropped west of what is now Orland Park. In 1967, it was dropped in the city limits of Chicago (terminating in Oak Lawn, and also extended to IL 53 in Lockport. Two years later, it was extended to Rockdale. In 1970, the eastern end was cut back to its current terminus.^[2]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1][3]	km	Destinations	Notes
Will	Rockdale	0.0	0.0	US 6 (Grand Army of the Republic Highway)	Southern terminus
	Joliet	1.0	1.6	I-80 – Moline, Rock Island, Gary	I-80 Exit 130
		1.8	2.9	US 52 (Jefferson Street)
		4.0	6.4	US 30 / Lincoln Highway (Plainfield Road)
	Crest Hill	5.7	9.2	IL 53 south (Broadway Street) / Historic US 66 west / I&M Canal Passage west – Joliet	Southwest end of IL 53/Historic US 66/I&M Canal Passage overlap
	Romeoville	8.7	14.0	IL 53 north (Independence Boulevard) / Historic US 66 east	Northeast end of IL 53/Historic US 66 overlap
	Lockport	9.7	15.6	IL 171 (State Street) / I&M Canal Passage east	Northeast end of I&M Canal Passage overlap
		12.4	20.0	I-355 Toll (Veterans Memorial Tollway) – Southwest Suburbs, West Suburbs	I-355 exit 4
Cook	Orland Park	18.6	29.9	US 6 (Wolf Road, 159th Street) – Joliet, Indiana
		22.7	36.5	US 45 (La Grange Road, 96th Avenue)	Access via 135th and 143th Streets
	Palos Park	25.3	40.7	123rd Street, McCarthy Road	Interchange
		26.2	42.2	IL 83 (Cal Sag Road, College Drive) / CR W32 south (80th Avenue)
	Worth	28.2	45.4	IL 43 (Harlem Avenue) Southwest Highway	Northern terminus; roadway continues as Southwest Highway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Electronic toll collection