^Westbound trailblazer at Illinois 117 in Eureka, January 2021.
In Illinois, US Route 24 runs east-west across the entire width of central Illinois, a bit north of Illinois's exact middle. It connects Quincy to the Peoria area, with a slight east-northeasterly angle, but after Peoria, it heads almost exactly due east through small rural farm communities to the Indiana border.
US Route 24 enters Illinois crossing the Mississippi River from the state Missouri, on a bridge that deposits the route right in downtown Quincy...
US Route 24 enters Illinois crossing the Mississippi River from the state Missouri, on a bridge that deposits the route right in downtown Quincy...
In downtown Quincy, US Route 24 turns northerly, as Illinois 57 starts out on the southern leg and Illinois 104 starts out on the eastern leg:
Just north of town, Illinois 96 joins US Route 24 from the south...
After a mile-long concurrency, Illinois 96 continues north, but US Route 24 straightens out to turn easterly:
After less than three miles, US Route 24 meets the northernmost interchange of Interstate 172, where that freeway becomes the rural expressway now known as Illinois 336:
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US Route 24 now really says goodbye to the Quincy area, and its next junction is with Illinois 94's southern end at Camp Point:
After that, US Route 24 enters Mount Sterling, where Illinois 99 joins from the north...
Illinois 99 stays with US Route 24 for about four blocks, then it splits to head south toward the northern beginning of Illinois 107:
Near the small town of Ripley, US Route 24 curves north and creates the western beginning of Illinois 103...
At Rushville, US Route 24 crosses US Route 67:
West of Havana, US Route 24 turns northerly as US Route 136 and Illinois 100 join from the east...
After about two miles, US Route 136 splits to continue west, but US Route 24 and Illinois 100 continue north together...
In Lewistown, three distinct duplexes come together, as US Route 24 turns easterly, and Illinois 97 comes from the east to join Illinois 100 north:
US Route 24 and Illinois 97 are now heading easterly together, but another intersection appears that's also home to three distinct duplexes: Illinois 97 leaves to the south, but Illinois 78 comes from the south to join US Route 24 east:
At a hamlet known as Little America, Illinois 78 splits from US Route 24 to head north, finally leaving US Route 24 with some independence:
East of Canton, Illinois 9 joins US Route 24 east:
Across the Illinois River from Pekin, Illinois 9 splits from US Route 24 to cross the river into that town...
At Bartonville, US Route 24 joins Interstate 474 east across the Illinois River...
As Interstate 474 reaches the next exit with Illinois 29, US Route 24 the freeway to join Illinois 29 north..
As US Route 24 and Illinois 29 reach East Peoria, a small trumpet interchange connects to Illinois Routes 8 and 116, which both join in to head north (don't ask me why one of the diagonal arrows is upside down):
In East Peoria, the 4-way concurrency trades Illinois 8 toward the east for US Route 150, which comes from the east:
After only a couple blocks, the new 4-way concurrency meets an interchange with Interstate 74, which Illinois 29 uses to join the Interstate westbound:
We're now left with US Route 24, US Route 150, and Illinois 116, and a river bridge across from Peoria's north side meets an interchange, where US Route 24 exits to turn eastward, Illinois 116 continues northward, and US Route 150 exits to use the river bridge westward into Peoria:
The next move for US Route 24 is to skirt around the north side of Washington, but at a point home to Illinois 8's eastern end, a business alignment splits to the south to access downtown Washington...
Northeast of Washington, US Route 24 catches the eastern end of its business route:
At Eureka, US Route 24 crosses Illinois 117:
As US Route 24 is approaching El Paso, Illinois, it meets an interchange with Interstate 39:
In El Paso, US Route 24 crosses Illinois 251:
US Route 24 continues heading due east through farm country north of the Bloomington area, encountering an interchange with Interstate 55 at Chenoa...
In Forrest, US Route 24 crosses Illinois 47:
At Piper City, US Route 24 picks up Illinois 115 for a short distance, starting from where that state route comes from the north...
After about one-third of a mile, Illinois 115 splits from US Route 24 to resume going south...
Entering Gilman, US Route 24 meets an interchange with Interstate 57...
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In Gilman, US Route 24 joins US Route 45 north for a bit:
As US Routes 24 and 45 head out of Gilman, they split up, leaving US Route 24 to head east independently again:
At Crescent City, US Route 24 crosses Illinois 49:
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In Watseka, US Route 24 meets Illinois 1, which joins from the north:
Just outside of Watseka, east of town, Illinois 1 splits from US Route 24 to resume heading south:
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At Sheldon, US Route 52 comes from the north to join US Route 24 east...
About two miles east of Sheldon, US Route 24 and US Route 52 cross the state border into Indiana concurrently, heading toward Kentland, Indiana...