Cline Avenue
(Highway Construction Workers Highway)

Cline Avenue was originally (and still is) the road that formed the border between Gary and Hammond.

Over the years, it was upgraded into a limited access highway specifically to provide rapid and easy access from I-94 up to Inland Steel, whose main plant was at the original north end of Cline Avenue.

Over the years, planners wanted to improve access from Indiana to Downtown Chicago. This, they said, would be accomplished by extending the Cline Avenue Expressway past Inland Steel through the mill areas of Inland and LTV Steel and through the oil fields of Standard Oil of Indiana (now Amoco).

The new roadway would be mostly elevated by a good fifty feet over the surrounding terrain with a bridge over the Indiana Harbor Canal that takes the roadway to more than 100 feet off of the ground. In 1981, during the construction of this bridge, a collapse occured which killed a number of the construction workers. As a result, the newer portion of the highway (from Michigan Ave./Inland Steel to the northern entrance to the Toll Road) was named the "Highway Construction Workers Highway" as an exercise in redundancy. There are actually a couple of signs that read that on the stretch of highway.

The southern end of the limited access highway at I-80/94 is being completely reconstructed, and is due to be complete by the end of next year. Once this exit is completed, it will bring the entire freeway section of Cline Avenue up to Interstate standard. As a result, I would love to see this roadway designated at I-280.

Exit   Number	State Highway,  Street Or Exit Destination	Other   Features
WB Only	WEST TO   Indiana Toll Road   TO Chicago Skyway	ENDS
EAST Cline Ave   (Highway Construction Workers Highway)   (Gary)  (Griffith)
	Calumet Ave   Hammond   (Whiting)	Empress Casino   Amoco Refinery
	Dickey Rd   LTV Steel	Amoco Refinery
	Michigan Ave   Inland Steel Plant 1	Indiana Harbor
	Inland Steel Plant 2   Jeorse Park	East Chicago Casino & Marina   Inland Steel Main Gate
SOUTH Cline Ave   (Griffith)
SB Only	WEST    Columbus Dr   Guthrie St   Chicago Ave	Gary Casinos
SB Only	EAST   Industrial Hwy   Gary	Gary Regional Airport
NB Only	Industrial Hwy   Columubus Dr	Gary Regional Airport
NB Only	Columbus Dr	Gary Regional Airport
	Toll Road  (Chicago & West)   (Ohio & East)   Gary Ave
	EAST  5th Avenue   Gary
	WEST  Michigan Ave   Hammond
	15th Avenue  169th Street   (Gary)   (Hammond)	Purdue University Calumet
/  Exit under total reconstruction   Expected completion 9/99  ("Your tax dollars at work")
	WEST  Frank Borman Expressway   (Chicago-Detroit Industrial Freeway)   Chicago	Reconstruction Project thru 10/98   Alternate Route Toll Road
	EAST  Frank Borman Expressway   (Chicago-Detroit Industrial Freeway)   Detroit	Reconstruction Project thru 10/98   Alternate Route Toll Road
SOUTH Cline Ave   (Griffith)  (Freeway Ends - Cline Ave continues as divided highway)
Stop Light	29th Avenue  179th Street	Frontage Road
Stop Light	Highway Avenue
Stop Light	Wicker Avenue
Stop Light	BUSINESS   Ridge Road	ENDS   Cline Ave. continues SB   as city street in Griffith

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