Interstate 94 is a major Interstate route in some of the most northerly regions of the United States, from Montana to Michigan. Except for its journey into northwest Indiana and southern Michigan, Interstate 94 acts like an alternate to Interstate 90, touching that other route in four distinct places.  One of those access points to Interstate 90 is the western end of Interstate 94, in Billings, Montana.  From there, it heads northeast to Miles City and Glendive. Near Glendive, Montana, Interstate 94 starts to head due east across North Dakota, serving Bismarck and Fargo. At Fargo, Interstate 94 crosses the Red River into Minnesota, where the highway begins to bend southeasterly to serve Minneapolis and St. Paul. Then, Interstate 94 enters Wisconsin, serving Eau Claire and bending southeasterly to pick up Interstate 90 at Tomah.  At Madison, Interstate 94 splits from Interstate 90 to head straight east to Milwaukee, where it turns straight south into Illinois.  It becomes a tollway until near Chicago, and in Chicago, it joins Interstate 90 again, right through downtown.  Interstate 94 passes through Chicago from north to south, splitting from Interstate 90 to join Interstate 80 east into Indiana.  But in northwest Indiana, Interstate 94 crosses Interstate 90 yet again; here, Interstate 80 joins Interstate 90 east across the rest of northern Indiana.  Interstate 94, on the other hand, runs northeasterly along the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan, into southwestern Michigan.  In the vicinity of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, Interstate 94 swerves toward the east to head inland, away from Lake Michigan, with its sights on the Detroit. Before Detroit, though, Interstate 94 passes through Kalamazoo, Jackson, and Ann Arbor.  Finally, it reaches Detroit, where it starts to angle northeasterly along the eastern edge of the state. The eastern end is in Port Huron, at the approach to a bridge to Sarnia, Ontario; this approach is shared with Interstate 69.  The bridge crossing into Canada at this eastern terminus is at the southern tip of Lake Huron.

My photo of an Interstate 94 route marker comes its interchange with Indiana Route 49, near Indiana Dunes National Park. The towns of Porter and Chesterton are just to the south. The junction marker depicted faces north at southbound travelers on Indiana Route 49 who are heading away from the shoreline of Lake Michigan. This photo was taken in August 2022 on the way home from a trip I took around Michigan.  (There was another photo of an Interstate 94 sign on this page previously; it is the same photo shown currently on the Michigan Route 311 page.)

Back to the nationwide main page.
Back to the home page.