Name that road: The people behind Chicago expressways (2025)

The naming of the Circle Interchange for former Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne adds another to the roster of names adorning area expressways. These names become part of the morning and evening commute soundtrack on traffic radio and TV. Here is a survey of some of the notable names behind Chicagoland’s expressways.

1. WILLIAM G. EDENS EXPRESSWAY

   
   Opened in 1951 and was named after William G. Edens, a banker known as a pioneer of paved roads in Illinois. He was part of the “good roads movement in Illinois” which culminated with the state’s first highway bond issue in 1918.
   Boundaries: The Kennedy Expressway north to West Park Avenue in Highland Park.

2. JOHN F. KENNEDY EXPRESSWAY

   
   Opened in 1960 as Northwest Expressway, but was renamed three years later for John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, shortly after he was assassinated.
   Boundaries: The Circle Interchange — where the Kennedy, Dan Ryan and Eisenhower expressways meet — northwest to O’Hare International Airport.

3. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER EXPRESSWAY

   
   Opened in 1955 as Congress Expressway and was renamed in 1964 after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th U.S. president. Eisenhower signed into law the First Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which called for an interstate highway network to join cities across the country.
   Boundaries: Named section of “the Ike” runs from the Circle Interchange to Illinois Highway 83 at the border of Addison and Elmhurst.

4. DANIEL B. RYAN EXPRESSWAY

   
   Opened in 1961 and was named after Dan Ryan Jr., president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, who died in office that year. Ryan’s wife, Ruby, served out his term on the board and was among the commissioners who voted to approve the name change.
   Boundaries: Circle Interchange south to where Interstate Highway 57 and the Bishop Ford split.

5. ROBERT KINGERY EXPRESSWAY

   
   Opened in 1950 as Tri-State Highway. It was renamed in 1953 for Robert Kingery, former director of the state’s department of public works and general manager of the Chicago Regional Planning Association.
   Boundaries: Indiana state line west to Illinois Highway 394, Interstate Highway 294 and the Bishop Ford Freeway.

6. JANE ADDAMS MEMORIAL TOLLWAY

   
   Originally called the Northwest Tollway, it was renamed in 2007 after Jane Addams, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a founder of the Hull House, America’s first settlement house where social workers lived with immigrants and the poor. The first stretch of Chicago-area interstate to be named for a woman, it takes motorists near Addams’ hometown of Cedarville, Ill., and Rockford, where she studied at what is now Rockford College.
   Boundaries: From the Interstate 90 intersection with I-294 to the Wisconsin border.

7. ADLAI E. STEVENSON II EXPRESSWAY

   
   Named after Adlai E. Stevenson II, former governor of Illinois, United Nations ambassador and two-time Democratic presidential candidate. It opened in 1964 as Southwest Expressway and was renamed a year later after Stevenson died.
   Boundaries: Named section runs from Lake Shore Drive to County Line Road in Burr Ridge, the Cook County border with DuPage County.

8. BISHOP LOUIS HENRY FORD FREEWAY

   
   Opened in 1950 as the Calumet Expressway. It was renamed in 1996 for Chicago religious activist Bishop Louis Henry Ford, founder and pastor of St. Paul Church of God in Christ in Chicago. It is the only Chicago-area expressway whose name includes a person’s title.
   Boundaries: Dan Ryan Expressway south to the Kingery Expressway, where Illinois Highway 394 and I-294 meet.

9. RONALD REAGAN MEMORIAL TOLLWAY

   
   East-West Tollway was renamed in 2004 after the 40th president, Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in Tampico. Ill., and the toll road passes just south of Reagan’s childhood home in Dixon. The name change came days after his death.
   Boundaries: Toll portion of Interstate Highway 88, which runs from I-294 west to Sterling in northwestern Illinois.

10. FRANK BORMAN EXPRESSWAY

    
    An Air Force veteran born in Gary, Frank Borman led the first team of astronauts to circle the moon in 1965 and later lead Apollo 8. He later became the CEO of Eastern Airlines.
    Boundaries: Interstate 80-94 from the Indiana state line to the intersection with I-90 tollroad.

11. JANE BYRNE INTERCHANGE

    
    Chicago’s first female mayor, Jane Byrne was elected in 1979 and was mayor through 1983. She was appointed commissioner of consumer sales in 1969 by Mayor Richard J. Daley. She was later fired by Mayor Michael Bilandic in 1977, whom she later defeated in the mayoral primary.
    Boundaries: Where the Ryan, Kennedy and Eisenhower come together.

Sources: Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Tollway, Indiana Department of Transportation, NASA

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