Editing Interstate 39 (section)

=== Illinois ===
When the [[Interstate Highway System]] was first being planned, Illinois made a request for a north–south highway from [[South Beloit, Illinois|South Beloit]] to [[Salem, Illinois|Salem]]. The project was deemed a low priority and was shelved. US&nbsp;51, which ran mostly down the middle of the state, became a heavily traveled two-lane [[arterial road]], experiencing many crashes and earning the nickname "Killer&nbsp;51".<ref>{{cite news |last = Simpson |first = Kevin |date = November 3, 2002 |title = Rescuers Remember Killer Road |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109431134/the-pantagraph/ |newspaper = [[The Pantagraph]] |location = Bloomington, Illinois |page = 1 |access-date = September 12, 2022 |via = [[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref>

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a major supplemental freeway system plan was proposed, with the goal of providing Illinois residents access to freeways within 30&nbsp;minutes or less. One of the proposed routes, FAP&nbsp;412, was a route that would extend from US&nbsp;20 in [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]] to I-57 just north of Salem, similar to the earlier requested route. Due to traffic counts, only the portion between Rockford and [[Decatur, Illinois|Decatur]] was prioritized.<ref name="interstate_39 decatur">{{cite map |author = Illinois Department of Transportation |url = http://www.midwestroads.com/illinois/il%20supp%20fwy.pdf |format = PDF |title = Priority Primary Routes |date = April 12, 1978 |publisher = Illinois Department of Transportation |access-date = March 23, 2010 }}</ref>

Over the course of the 1970s, planning for the US&nbsp;51 supplemental freeway took place in earnest. However, debate ensued over what type of highway should be built. The [[Illinois Department of Transportation]] (IDOT) wanted the entire highway built to [[Interstate Highway standards]], but a transportation committee established to review the proposed supplemental freeway system recommended only Interstate construction between Rockford and [[Interstate 80 in Illinois|I-80]].<ref>{{cite news |first = Bill |last = Wills |date = August 27, 1976 |title = Sides Square Off in Hearings on Freeway |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109434061/sides-square-off-in-hearings-on-freeway/ |work = The Pantagraph |location = Bloomington, Illinois |page = 3 |access-date = September 12, 2022 |via = Newspapers.com }}</ref> The highway from [[Oglesby, Illinois|Oglesby]] south to Decatur was recommended to be an at-grade expressway, utilizing the existing road where possible. After a decade of lobbying by interest groups, it was announced in 1986 that US&nbsp;51 would be rebuilt to Interstate standards from Oglesby to [[Normal, Illinois|Normal]].<ref>{{cite news |first = Marc |last = Featherly |title = Close Encounters on US&nbsp;51 Trip |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109434150/close-encounters-on-us-51-trip/ |work = The Pantagraph |location = Bloomington, Illinois |date = March 11, 1986 |pages = A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109434255/close-encounters-on-us-51-trip-part-2/ A5] |access-date = September 12, 2022 |via = Newspapers.com }}</ref> However, due to funding concerns and local opposition, it was decided that the [[Bloomington, Illinois|Bloomington]] to Decatur segment would not be built to Interstate standards; this segment was made a four-lane expressway.<ref>{{cite news |title = Politics Helped Shelve US&nbsp;51 Work |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109434390/politics-helped-shelve-us-51-work/ |work = The Pantagraph |location = Bloomington, Illinois |page = 34 |access-date = September 12, 2022 |via = Newspapers.com }}</ref>

The first segment of the freeway opened 1984 from [[Illinois Route 5|IL&nbsp;5]] (now [[Interstate 88 (west)|I-88]]) in [[Rochelle, Illinois|Rochelle]], to US&nbsp;20 in Rockford.<ref name="aaroads">{{cite web |url = http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-039.html |title = Interstate 39 |access-date = January 11, 2009 |work = Interstate Guide |publisher = AA Roads |date = July 29, 2008 |archive-date = May 14, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120514095103/http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-039.html |url-status = dead }}{{sps|certain=y|date=March 2014}}</ref> When the freeway was completed south from IL&nbsp;5 to I-80 in 1986, IDOT officially requested an Interstate designation for the new highway, and I-39 was officially designated.<ref>{{cite web |first = Richard |last = Weingroff |date = October 15, 2013 |title = Part I: History |work = The Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/data/page01.cfm |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |access-date = March 7, 2015 |at = "Interstate Route Additions Under 23 U.S.C. 139(a) As of 12/31/97" (table) }}</ref><!--There should be a better source for this. WP:USRD/AASHTO should have AASHTO's approval of the number which can be cited with [[Template:AASHTO minutes]].--> By December 1987, construction on the section of I-39 between I-80 and [[Illinois Route 251|IL&nbsp;251]] was finished. The next section, between IL&nbsp;251 and [[Interstate 55 in Illinois|I-55]] in Bloomington–Normal, was completed by 1992, although this stretch of the highway was opened in several phases as completed.<ref>{{cite web |last = Carlson |first = Rich |date = November 18, 2007 |url = http://www.n9jig.com/21-40.html |work = Illinois Highways Page |title = Routes 21 through 40 |access-date = January 11, 2009 }}{{sps|certain=y|date=March 2014}}</ref> In December 1989, the section from Bloomington–Normal to Hudson opened, a distance of about {{convert|4.4|mi|km}}.<ref name=zehr_1991>{{cite news |last = Zehr |first = Melissa |date = March 8, 1991 |title = Interstate 39: Crews Work to Link Highway by 1992 |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109433868/interstate-39-crews-work-to-link-highwa/ |work = The Pantagraph |location = Bloomington, Illinois |page = 3 |access-date = September 12, 2022 |via = Newspapers.com }}</ref> In early September 1992, another segment opened from IL&nbsp;116 north to IL&nbsp;17.<ref name=davis_1992>{{cite news |work = Peoria Journal-Star |date = September 2, 1992 |url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=NewsBank&p_text_direct-0=document_id=%20%200EB6EAF34E7EB053%20%20&p_docid=0EB6EAF34E7EB053&p_theme=aggregated4&p_queryname=0EB6EAF34E7EB053&f_openurl=yes&p_nbid=O54E56XJMTE5NzMwNTE2NS41MDEzNzI6MTo3OnJmLTg3MjU&&p_multi=PJSB#7117694631508559435 |last = Davis |first = Jenni |title = I-39 Nearly Finished; 12 More Miles Open Today |url-access = registration |via = [[Newsbank]] }}</ref>