^Westbound trailblazer leaving the western junction with Illinois 94, January 2020.
Illinois Route 9 is an east-west route across the central axis of Illinois, running from Iowa to Indiana. Spanning the entire width of the state, it's the main east-west route through Bloomington, among many other towns.
Illinois 9's western beginning is a bridge over the Mississippi River from Fort Madison, Iowa, where automobile traffic uses an upper deck directly above a separate deck for trains:
Illinois 9's western beginning is a bridge over the Mississippi River from Fort Madison, Iowa, where automobile traffic uses an upper deck directly above a separate deck for trains:
At Niota, Illinois 9 joins Illinois 96 northeastward:
In Dallas City, Illinois 9 splits from Illinois 96, and really gets started heading across Illinois on its own:
Not long after establishing its independence, Illinois 94 joins from the south:
At La Harpe, Illinois 94 splits from Illinois 9 to head northerly again:
At Good Hope, Illinois 9 crosses US Route 67:
In Bushnell, Illinois 9 joins Illinois 41 north:
Between Bushnell and Prairie City, Illinois 9 uses a wye-junction to split from Illinois 41:
Near the unincorporated community of Fiatt, Illinois 9 is joined by Illinois 97 which comes in from the south:
After two miles, Illinois 97 splits from Illinois 9 to resume heading northward:
In Canton, Illinois 9 is joined by Illinois 78 which approaches from the north:
On the south side of Canton, Illinois 78 continues going south as Illinois 9 turns off of it to go east again:
At the tiny town of Banner along the Illinois River, Illinois 9 joins US Route 24 east...
Across the Illinois River from Pekin, Illinois 9 splits from US Route 24 to head directly toward Pekin:
Immediately after crossing the Illinois River, Illinois 9 turns southerly onto Illinois 29 in downtown Pekin:
After about three miles together, Illinois 9 and Illinois 29 part ways, as Illinois 9 turns to utilize the new Pekin Bypass:
By Tremont, Illinois 9 meets an interchange with Interstate 155:
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At Danvers, Illinois 9 turns southerly, then meets the eastern end of Illinois 122 to turn east toward Bloomington:
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Approaching Bloomington, Illinois 9 is joined by US Route 150...
Illinois 9 and US Route 150 continue eastward together, through a full-access interchange with the freeway carrying Interstates 55 and 74, plus US Route 51:
In downtown Bloomington, the concurrency of Illinois 9 and US Route 150 split into a pair of one-way streets that are three blocks apart from each other; this pair of one-way streets crosses another pair of one-way streets carrying Business US Route 51:
About a half mile to the east, US Route 150 splits from Illinois 9 to turn southerly, as Illinois 9 continues east on the pair of one-way streets:
Back to a single roadway now, Illinois 9 crosses Business Loop 55:
Solidly a few miles beyond the Bloomington-Normal metropolis, Illinois 9 meets the southern endpoint of Illinois 165:
Illinois 9 now reaches the town of Gibson City, and on the west side of that town, Illinois 9 joins Illinois 47 south:
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Less than a mile to the south, Illinois 9 and Illinois 47 both join Illinois 54 east around the south side of Gibson City:
Directly south of the city center of Gibson City, Illinois 47 splits from Illinois 9 and Illinois 54 to head south:
After Illinois 9 and Illinois 54 leave Illinois 47 behind, the two routes head due east for a little while longer, before Illinois 54 diverts northeasterly:
Three miles west of Paxton, Illinois 9 meets the southern end of Illinois 115...
As Illinois 9 enters Paxton, it meets an interchange with Interstate 57...
In Paxton, Illinois 9 joins US Route 45 north for a short distance...
That short distance is, in fact, three blocks long, after which Illinois 9 splits from US Route 45...
At the small town of Rankin, Illinois 9 crosses Illinois 49:
At Hoopeston, Illinois 9 crosses Illinois 1 at the only point where two single-digit state routes cross in the state of Illinois:
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Illinois 9 ends by crossing the Indiana state line, to become Indiana State Route 26, at a point common to the southern extent of Indiana State Route 352.
