Illinois Route 47

Illinois Route 47 is a largely rural north–south state highway that runs from the Wisconsin state border at Highway 120 near Hebron, to Illinois Route 10, just south of Interstate 72 nearSeymour. This is a distance of 169.76 miles (273.20 km).^[2] Even though Route 47 is primarily rural, in several suburbs of Chicago, such as Woodstock, traffic can be congested. Even in heavily rural areas, traffic is heavy.

It crosses most Interstate highways in northern and central Illinois, but the largest towns that Illinois 47 serves are Huntley (at the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway), Yorkville (at U.S. Route 34), Woodstock (at U.S. Route 14), Lily Lake at (Illinois Route 64), Elburn (at Illinois Route 38), Sugar Grove (at U.S. Route 30, Morris (at Interstate 80), Dwight (at Interstate 55),Forrest (at U.S. Route 24), Gibson City (at Illinois Route 54), and Mahomet (at Interstate 74).

Illinois 47 overlaps Illinois Route 72 and U.S. Route 20 near Starks, an unincorporated village approximately 60 miles (97 km) from Chicago; this concurrency is part of a so-called wrong-way concurrency, where one can be driving both west on Illinois 72 and east on U.S. 20 at the same time. Route 47 also shares concurrencies with Illinois Route 9 and Illinois 54 in Gibson City, U.S. Route 30 in Sugar Grove, U.S. Route 6 in Morris, Historic U.S. Route 66 in Dwight, and U.S. Route 150 in Mahomet.

The Prairie Parkway study is a preliminary study by the Illinois Department of Transportation for a limited-access freeway that will roughly parallel Illinois 47. According to the study's FinalEnvironmental Impact Statement, Illinois Route 47 will interchange with Prairie Parkway approximately 1/2 mile south of Caton Farm Road near Yorkville.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is proposing to add lanes to several portions of Illinois Route 47. The Prairie Parkway study included engineering for 4 lanes from I-80 in Morris to Caton Farm Road south of Yorkville. Engineering is underway for Caton Farm Road to Illinois Route 71 in Yorkville, from Kennedy Road in Yorkville to US 30 in Sugar Grove, and from Charles Road to US 14 in Woodstock. Illinois Route 47 additional lanes through Yorkville and Huntley are part of the Illinois Jobs Now capital improvement plan and are funded at $36.5 million and $36 million respectively for construction.^[3]