I-494 (cancelled)  Illinois (link)

This number was applied to several proposed routes:

1) Crosstown Expwy; from the northern I-90/94 interchange (Edens/Kennedy), south along Cicero Ave (IL 50), then east along 65th St to the southern I-90/94 junction (Dan Ryan/Skyway). [4] [3]

This was killed around 1980. It would have been 8 lanes and cost nearly $2 billion. The federal funds were reportedly traded in for projects like the O'Hare rapid rail extension, the Midway rapid rail extension, and I-39. [3]

2) Lakeshore Drive (now US 41.) Some accounts had this going from the IL/IN state line at I-94 to near Waukegan built largely on fill along the shore of Lake Michigan, but this was quickly squashed by North Shore residents not wanting the beaches replaced by an expressway. [2]

A 1962 map (courtesy Stephen Summers) shows I-494 starting at today's I-90 tollway near Chatham, intercepting US 41 near 57th Street, and following Lake Shore Drive to just north of the Chicago River. Then it veered west, using the Ohio Street ramps to reconnect with I-90/94 northwest of the Loop. [5]

I-494  Minnesota (link)

42.94 miles [1]; from I-94 in Maple Grove to I-94 east of St. Paul. Continues there as I-694. Parts of Interstate 494 were built in the 1950s and '60s [6];it was finished sometime in the late 1980s.

See also:

• Are We There Yet? (Featured article collection, Minnesota Public Radio)
• I-494 Corridor Commission; Bloomington area; mission statements, project calendar
• I-494 Reconstruction: Environmental Review documents (City of Bloomington)

Sources

1. Route Log and Finder List - Interstate Highways, FHWA, Oct. 31, 2002.
2. Carlson, Rich
3. Kozel, Scott
4. King, Michael
5. Summers, Stephen. 'Re: I-486NY,I-494IL and More.' Personal email, Jan. 13, 2002.
6. 'The Corridor of Congestion.' Minnesota Public Radio, April 8, 2002. Transcript: http://news.mpr.org/features/200204/08_mulcahym_gettingthere/haeg.shtml.