Mississippi River to I-39 US 30 crosses from
Clinton, Iowa, to the greater
Fulton area over the
Gateway Bridge. US 30 bypasses most of the city of Fulton to the south. From Fulton, US 30 travels southeastward through the town of
Morrison en route to a crossing over the
Rock River and
Rock Falls. Here also, US 30 bypasses the majority of the town, intersecting
Illinois Route 40 (IL 40) and having an interchange with
Interstate 88 (I-88) on the southeast side of Rock Falls. East of Rock Falls, US 30 turns directly eastward and intersects
IL 26 well south of
Dixon. It also intersects
US 52 at a remote location north of
Amboy in
Lee County. US 30 remains rural continuing eastward, intersecting
IL 251 a few miles west of
I-39. On the stretch of US 30 between Rock Falls and
Shabbona, there are no notable population centers located on the highway. This is a distance of approximately .
I-39 to Joliet US 30 continues east of the I-39 interchange on a largely straight line through the towns of
Shabbona,
Waterman, and
Hinckley. The proposed
Prairie Parkway limited-access highway would have intersected US 30 east of Dauberman Road in the village of Big Rock, between Hinckley and
Sugar Grove. In Sugar Grove at
IL 47, the character of the road changes relatively quickly. Near
Aurora Municipal Airport in Sugar Grove, US 30 has an interchange with the western terminus of
IL 56 and IL 47. US 30 exits south with IL 47 and remains
concurrent for a couple of miles; US 30 then turns east at the
Kendall–
Kane county line. US 30 then intersects
IL 31 and the
Fox River and crosses over
IL 25 in
Montgomery but does not provide access to IL 25. East of Montgomery, US 30 overlaps
US 34 for a short distance and then turns south-southeast to
Plainfield, picking up the
Lincoln Highway designation. Prior to the route being redrawn to follow the path of US 34, the route actually exited off of US 34 through a highway interchange. The interchange in
Aurora at Hill Avenue, where the Lincoln Highway passes through Aurora toward the south, is where the route gains the designation and is where the old interchange was located as Hill Avenue passed over US 34 and continued south toward Plainfield. US 30 passes to the north of downtown Plainfield on 143rd Street, then turns south onto
IL 59 (Division Street) for approximately . Southeast of downtown, US 30 leaves IL 59 and heads southeast toward Joliet. US 30 intersects
I-55 at a busy commercial center near
Louis Joliet Mall in the far northwest corner of
Joliet. A major construction project, begun in 2006, is in process to widen the remaining two-lane sections in this area to four lanes. A similar project was completed on other sections in far western Joliet and
Crest Hill during the few years before. US 30 intersects an east–west segment of
IL 7 (Theodore Street) as it runs through the major commercial district of Crest Hill. It then continues southeast into the central part of the city of Joliet.
Joliet to the Indiana state line Within Joliet, US 30 runs on Plainfield Road, then Center Street, where it splits onto Jefferson Street eastbound and Western Avenue/Cass Street westbound, concurrent with
US 6 east of the
Des Plaines River. The US 6/US 30 combination eastbound begins at Scott Street and ends at Collins Street; westbound, it starts at Collins and ends at Ottawa Street. There are also intersections at Scott and Ottawa streets with
IL 53, which runs north–south through downtown Joliet. US 30 continues eastbound on Cass Street. At
I-80, US 30 is once again called the Lincoln Highway, running through the southern suburbs of
New Lenox,
Frankfort,
Matteson,
Chicago Heights,
Ford Heights, and
Lynwood. It intersects
US 45 (La Grange Road), the southern terminus of
IL 43 in Frankfort,
I-57 in Matteson,
IL 1 (Halsted Street) in Chicago Heights,
IL 394 near
Sauk Village, and the southern terminus of
IL 83 in Lynwood. West of I-80, US 30 generally has two lanes plus a center turn lane; east of I-80, the width of the road fluctuates between four and six lanes and is occasionally divided by a median. A 2003–2004 reconstruction project widened US 30 to four lanes between IL 394 and the Indiana state line. The point west of I-80 where US 30 widens to four lanes is the beginning of a very long stretch of road where US 30 stays at least four lanes; going eastward, US 30 does not narrow to two lanes again until just east of
Canton, Ohio. ==History==