# Illinois Route 37

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**Illinois Route 37**, **Illinois 37** or **IL 37**, is a 155.07-mile (249.56-kilometre) north–south [state highway](/source/State_highway) in southern Illinois. IL 37's southern terminus is at [U.S. Route 51](/source/U.S._Route_51_in_Illinois) (US 51) and [IL 3](/source/Illinois_Route_3) in [Cairo](/source/Cairo,_Illinois) and the northern terminus is at [US 45](/source/U.S._Route_45_in_Illinois) in [Watson](/source/Watson,_Illinois).[2]

## Route description

Between Effingham and a point near [Watson](/source/Watson,_Illinois), a segment in which it shared a route with [U.S. Route 45](/source/U.S._Route_45_(Illinois)), Illinois 37 has been decommissioned in favor of US 45. Between Watson and just north of [Salem](/source/Salem,_Illinois), it angles westward and toward the south before meeting [US 50](/source/U.S._Route_50_in_Illinois) at Salem, [Illinois 15](/source/Illinois_Route_15) and [Illinois 142](/source/Illinois_Route_142) at [Mount Vernon](/source/Mount_Vernon,_Illinois), [Interstate 64](/source/Interstate_64_in_Illinois) south of Mount Vernon, [Illinois 14](/source/Illinois_Route_14) and [Illinois 34](/source/Illinois_Route_34) at [Benton](/source/Benton,_Illinois), [Illinois 149](/source/Illinois_Route_149) at [West Frankfort](/source/West_Frankfort,_Illinois), [Illinois 13](/source/Illinois_Route_13) at [Marion](/source/Marion,_Illinois), and [US 51](/source/U.S._Route_51_in_Illinois) and [Illinois 3](/source/Illinois_Route_3) at its current southern terminus at [Urbandale](/source/Urbandale,_Illinois). Both of [Illinois Route 148](/source/Illinois_Route_148)'s termini branch from Route 37, the north terminus at [Mount Vernon](/source/Mount_Vernon,_Illinois), and the southern terminus just north of [Pulley's Mill](/source/Pulley's_Mill,_Illinois). It has no direct connection to [Interstate 24](/source/Interstate_24_in_Illinois), which is far better approached from Interstate 57.

All of Illinois 37 is an undivided surface route.

## History

Originally connecting [Effingham](/source/Effingham,_Illinois) to [Cairo](/source/Cairo,_Illinois), it was a heavily-traveled highway before [Interstate 57](/source/Interstate_57_in_Illinois) was opened. That Interstate, which lies very close to most of Illinois 37 (indeed the entire route north of [Pulleys Mill](/source/Pulleys_Mill,_Illinois)), supplanted it as a through route. Illinois 37 was long a part of the most direct route between Chicago and [Memphis](/source/Memphis,_Tennessee). Illinois 37 has become a route of local significance instead of the busy, long-distance, inter-city highway that it was until the 1970s. As a town-to-town route, it especially serves communities which have no access to Interstate 57.

## References

1. Carlson, Rich. [Illinois Highways Page: Routes 21 thru 40](http://www.n9jig.com/21-40.html). Last updated March 15, 2005. Retrieved April 7, 2006.

1. Illinois Technology Transfer Center (2006). ["T2 GIS Data"](http://www.dot.state.il.us/gist2/select.html). Retrieved 2007-11-08.

## External links

- [Illinois Highway Ends: Illinois Route 37](https://web.archive.org/web/20110917025711/http://www.highwayexplorer.com/il_EndsPage.php?id=1037&section=1)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Illinois Route 37](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Route_37) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Route_37?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.