Interstate 57 (I-57) is a north–south Interstate Highway in Missouri and Illinois that parallels the old Illinois Central Railroad for much of its route. It runs from Sikeston, Missouri, at I-55 to Chicago, Illinois, at I-94. I-57 essentially serves as a shortcut route for travelers headed between the South (Memphis, New Orleans, etc.) and Chicago, bypassing St. Louis, Missouri and Springfield, Illinois. Between the junction of I-55 and I-57 in Sikeston and the junction of I-55 and I-90/I-94 in Chicago, I-55 travels for , while the combination of I-57 and I-94 is only long between the same two points. In fact, both the control cities on the overhead signs and the destination mileage signs reference Memphis along southbound I-57, even as far north as its northern origin at I-94 in Chicago. Likewise, at its southern end, Chicago is the control city listed for I-57 on signs on northbound I-55 south of Sikeston, even though I-55 also goes to Chicago. A southward extension of I-57 from its current southern terminus to Little Rock, Arkansas is currently in various stages of development.
, I-57 has no spur routes nor are any planned for the near future. At a length of just over , it is the second-longest two-digit Interstate Highway without an auxiliary route, behind I-49. I-57 has one business loop in Charleston, Missouri.
Route description
Missouri
In the state of Missouri, I-57 runs northbound from Sikeston to the Cairo I-57 Bridge over the Mississippi River north of Cairo, Illinois.
After ending southbound at I-55, the highway continues as U.S. Route 60 (US 60), which meets US 67 at Poplar Bluff, and, from there, US 67 goes south to Little Rock, Arkansas.
From the start of I-57 northbound, the US 60 concurrency goes about .
Illinois
Interstate 57 is the longest interstate highway in the state of Illinois spanning 396 miles long with Chicago being the main city along its northern route and Memphis being the southern main city along its southern route. Interstate 57 starts at a Cloverleaf interchange in Sikeston, Missouri. As it heads north, it has one business route which lies entirelyrely with of Charleston, MO. Interstate 57 then enters Illinois across the Mississippi River into Cairo, Illinois. It passes through Mounds, Illinois, Ullin, Illinois, and then it makes an interchange with U.S. Route 51, making U.S 51 depart from its temporary concurrency with the interstate. Interstate 57 then continues north and has a unknown type of interchange with Interstate 24 towards Nashville, Tennessee. It then continues to head towards Marion, IL, West Frankfort, Illinois, Benton, Illinois, Whittington, Illinois, Ina, Illinois, and then heads into Mount Vernon, Illinois. In Mt.Vernon, Interstate 57 has a short concurrency with Interstate 64 while making two diamond interchanges with the city's streets. Interstate 64 then leaves Interstate 57 and continues its western route towards St. Louis, while Interstate 57 continues towards Effingham, Illinois. In Effingham, Interstate 70 joins Interstate 57 and makes interchanges with the city's streets once again. Interstate 70 then departs from Interstate 57 and continues east towards Terre Haute, Indiana and Indianapolis. As for Interstate 57, it continues and heads towards Mattoon, Illinois where it has a cloverleaf interchange with U.S. Route 45 and then heads towards Champaign, Illinois where it meets the terminus of Interstate 72 in a cloverleaf interchange. It then travels for another 2 miles, and then meets up with a soon to be changed from a cloverleaf interchange to a semi-directional interchange with Interstate 74 going east towards Indianapolis (again) and west towards Bloomington, Illinois. The interstate then heads towards Kankakee, Illinois and then into Cook County, Illinois where it meets its own terminus with Interstate 94 ending in Chicago.