^Westbound trailblazer at Illinois Route 1 in Gallatin County, March 2023.
Illinois Route 13 is mainly an east-west route in southern Illinois. It runs west from Shawneetown, on a north-south segment of the Ohio River, west through Marion and Carbondale; then it turns northerly out of Murphysboro along Illinois Route 127 for a long distance before redirecting northwest out of Pinckneyville to end by East St. Louis. I don't know why the northwest-southeast segment from the Metro East to Pinckneyville is even the same number as the east-west section from Murphysboro east to Shawneetown, but I guess we just ended up with a route having multiple personalities.
Centreville is where Illinois 13 gets its start heading eastward, from Illinois 163, a north-south route that seems to have little purpose besides giving Illinois 13 a western endpoint; Illinois 157's northbound side is concurrent with Illinois 13's initial eastward pathing:
Shortly after Illinois 13 gets started, Illinois 157 splits to head north independently, at a roundabout:
Entering the Belleville area, Illinois 13 crosses over Illinois 15 at an interchange with partial access (Illinois 13's west leg can't access Illinois 15's west leg, and vice versa)...
In Belleville, Illinois 13 serves as the local alternative to the Illinois 15 expressway, and Illinois 158 joins it from the southwest...
Illinois 13 and Illinois 158 concurrently pass through an intersection with the main north-south route through Belleville, which is Illinois 159...
Five blocks to the east, Illinois 158 splits from Illinois 13, carrying the western beginning of Illinois 177:
On the way out of Belleville, Illinois 13 joins with Illinois 15, as if it is Illinois 15's business route coming to an end...
At Freeburg, Illinois 15 turns from Illinois 13 to head more easterly, as Illinois 13 dives southward for a while:
Illinois 13 turns more southeasterly from southerly, at New Athens, as it meets the eastern end of Illinois 156...
At Marissa, Illinois 13 is joined by Illinois 4, which comes from the north:
Near Tilden, Illinois 13 turns off of Illinois 4 so it can keep going easterly:
At Coulterville, Illinois 153 comes from the north and joins Illinois 13 east for a short distance:
The length of the concurrency is short, and Illinois 153 turns southerly again off of Illinois 13:
At the central town square of Pinckneyville, Illinois 13 turns from Illinois 154 eastward onto Illinois 127 southward, starting a very long concurrency with Illinois 127:
West of DuQuoin, Illinois, Illinois 13 and Illinois 127 meet the western end of Illinois 152:
Illinois 13 and Illinois 127 meet the southeastern end of Illinois 4, five miles north of Murphysboro:
In Murphysboro, Illinois 149 comes from the east to join Illinois 13 and Illinois 127, forming a triplicate:
After one mile, Illinois Routes 13, 127, and 149 reach a T-intersection, where Illinois 13 turns east but Illinois 127 and Illinois 149 turn to the west:
Illinois 13 is now a major four-lane highway, connecting Murphysboro to Carbondale, where it crosses US Route 51 (both routes split into their own pair of one-way streets through downtown Carbondale):
Near the towns of Herrin and Energy, Illinois 13 crosses Illinois 148...