^Eastbound trailblazer at Illinois 23 near Leland, June 2022.
In Illinois, US Route 34 runs from Burlington, Iowa, to just outside of Chicago. This gives it an alignment running from west-southwest to east-northeast. It runs through cities like Monmouth, Galesburg, Princeton, Mendota, Plano, and Naperville. It's a useful route in Chicago's western suburbs, where it's known as Ogden Avenue; outside of Chicagoland, US Route 34 follows the original BNSF rail line, now an Amtrak line, connecting Chicago and Burlington. The eastern end of the US highway is at Illinois 43 in Berwyn. That eastern terminus is an oddity, marking one of the few times a US highway ends at a state route.
US Route 34 first enters the state of Illinois crossing the Mississippi River from Burlington, Iowa:
US Route 34 first enters the state of Illinois crossing the Mississippi River from Burlington, Iowa:
Near Gladstone, US Route 34 meets the southwestern end of Illinois 164:
US Route 34 meets the Monmouth area and joins US Route 67 north, using an onramp that appears on the right and hooks around:
Illinois 164, which serves as a local alternate to US Route 34, joins US Routes 34 and 67 north and east...
On the north side of Monmouth, US Route 67 splits from US Route 34 to head north:
Shortly after that, Illinois 164 deviates from US Route 34, and both routes leave Monmouth in slightly different directions:
As US Route 34 reaches Galesburg, it becomes a fully-fledged freeway, and the exit to Main Street serves as the eastern end of Illinois 164 and the northern end of Illinois 41:
On the north side of Galesburg, US Route 34 provides a diamond interchange for accessing US Route 150:
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US Route 34 reaches the end of its freeway section in Galesburg as it meets a cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 74:
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At the tiny town of Oneida, US Route 34 runs northeast past the western end of Illinois 167:
Near Nekoma, Illinois 17 joins US Route 34 as it straightens out eastward toward Galva:
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In Galva, Illinois 17 splits from US Route 34 to turn southerly (toward the northern start of Illinois 180):
About five miles south of Kewanee, Illinois 78 joins US Route 34 as it turns northward...
Shortly after that, US Route 34 and Illinois 78 run north along the northwestern end of Illinois 91:
In Kewanee, US Route 34 splits from Illinois 78 to turn back northeasterly:
In Sheffield, US Route 34 joins US Route 6 east...
About three miles after joining US Route 6, US Route 34 crosses Illinois 40:
At Princeton, US Route 34 turns northerly onto Illinois 26, as Illinois 26 comes from the north to turn easterly onto US Route 6:
Less than a mile to the north, US Route 34 splits from Illinois 26 to head northeasterly, under Interstate 80 and out of Princeton...
At LaMoille, US Route 34 meets the northern end of Illinois 89:
After passing out of the north side of LaMoille, US Route 34 turns easterly at the eastern end of Illinois 92:
As US Route 34 exits the east side of Mendota, it meets an interchange with Interstate 39...
After passing through Earlville, Illinois 23 joins US Route 34 from the south...
Near the small town of Leland, Illinois 23 splits from US Route 34 to resume going northerly...
After threading through Somonauk, Sandwich, and Plano, US Route 34 crosses Illinois 47 in Yorkville:
In Oswego, US Route 34 turns onto a bridge over the Fox River into downtown Oswego, at the southern end of Illinois 31:
In downtown Oswego, US Route 34 meets the southern end of Illinois 25 at a five-way intersection:
Just as US Route 34 is leaving downtown Oswego, it meets the northeastern end of Illinois 71 and turns northeasterly itself:
On the eastern end of Montgomery, US Route 34 is joined by US Route 30 for a short distance:
Then US Route 30 turns south-southeasterly off of US Route 34:
US Route 34 crosses Illinois 59 where Aurora meets Naperville...
In Naperville, US Route 34 turns from northerly to easterly onto Ogden Avenue:
After passing through Naperville, US Route 34 creates a sort of fountain interchange to Illinois 53 in Lisle:
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On the border between Hinsdale and Westmont, US Route 34 acts as the surface road connecting to the Illinois 83 expressway via a fountain interchange:
US Route 34 has a cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 294 at Western Springs:
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After passing through Brookfield, US Route 34 crosses Illinois 171 in Lyons:
US Route 34 no longer enters the City of Chicago, as it was truncated to end at Illinois 43 in Berwyn. This is a rare occurrence of a US Highway ending at a state highway.
