All but the last photo are westbound (I-55/IL 3 SB).


Well, this one is north. The Illinois Central Railroad entered the state on this Wabash River bridge from 1913-1996. The western pier collapsed in 2005, and yet the rest remains for gawking.


Around the side of Mt. Vernon, under IL 15 with I-57 NB.


Guess I'm not stopping here.


St. Louis appears as I get to Exit 6, and the new Stan Musial Bridge on I-70 appears as I get to Exit 4A.


The other bridge you saw is a pedestrian link between 14th and 15th Streets in East St. Louis.


There is entirely way too much going on as I-64 and I-55 merge. Because of the number of ramps in a short distance between here and the Poplar St. Bridge into Missouri, there are exits on both sides for the same bridge. I find it strange that they have different designations, though, since they lead to the exact same place. You could concoct a scenario where someone is looking for Exit 2B, sees "2C," and panics. (And this makes me all the more curious what was under "2B" before it was patched.) I-70 was pulled off of the center signs in 2014 with the new bridge.


Here's the old version of the last assembly above, courtesy Chris Pangilinan. Chris also got the best shot of the city skyline from I-55/64.


Signs get ever more confusing as I go on. Mentally add I-70 shields to where they were removed, and you'll notice that I-70 is signed as exiting with IL 3 at first, which it doesn't, but then it's signed both on the mainline and the exit! To exacerbate the issue, I-64/US 40 and I-55 are both signed as "all lanes" but on separate signs, implying that the former are left and the latter is right. Well, that one's correct. The best way to really sign all of this, and maybe you'll actually understand what's going on when I explain it this way, is to show a diagrammatic sign with the upcoming I-64/US 40 split with I-55/former I-70 over the left three lanes and just sign Exit 1 for IL 3. (The reason I-70 is signed so strangely is to get all that through traffic as far right as possible, using a connector ramp between the Exit 1 exit and entrance, since it was historically the first exit off the bridge. I-55 was the second exit. If traffic could figure out what to do, it would work great.) Last note: the removal from Exit 2A was just a hospital H.


I skipped this view of the ML King Bridge to rant at you.


Apologies for the blur, but here all through traffic is signed in the two left lanes on the ramp to Exit 1, which is still signed as Exit 1 so you might consider this a C-D road. But then you have 13th St. with no exit number at all, so what is it? 13th St./Tudor Ave. exits to a stub expressway that now connects into IL 15 but was intended as the US 460 freeway back when that highway extended this far.


The MacArthur Bridge and approaches are just south of I-55/64 as they enter the Poplar St. Bridge. The closer northern truss and main span upper deck are former US 66 and were removed in 2015, while the southern truss and lower deck still carry rail traffic.


Rotating from west to north, I get views of the Eads (lower arch), MLK (upper truss), and Stan Musial (cable stayed) Bridges. My own bridge has a very short weave before the MO exits, which is why ramp traffic is being told to Merge Left despite there being no merge. (And if they want to take I-55 or I-44, they won't want to merge left.)


Bonus photo on I-64/US 40 EB and I-55/IL 3 NB in East St. Louis, courtesy Michael Summa in 1978. US 50 now follows the I-255 beltway to the south of St. Louis.

Onto I-55 alone
Onto (old) US 40 alone
Exit 1 or 2 to IL 3 alone
Over to (current) I-70

Into Missouri on I-64/US 40
Into Indiana on I-64
Up onto IL 15
Exit 2B/2C to ML King Bridge
Exit 2A to Eads Bridge
Exit 2 to modern US 50
South to the MacArthur Bridge
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