   Indiana East-West Toll Road |
The Indiana East-West Toll Road was authorized in 1951 by the Indiana State Legislature to be constructed by the Indiana Toll Road Commission. I'm going to let the good folks of the Toll Road Division of the Indiana Department of Transportation (InDOT) explain the history of the road.
This publication was put out by the Toll Road Division in 1991, and it details the history of the road better than I could.
In the mid-1990's, a new interchange was opened at County Road 17, Elkhart East. In addition, there used to be a total of eight pairs of service areas, approximately 18 miles apart. Service Areas 2, 4, and 6 were closed in 1981 or 1982. Service Areas 2 were between Exits 39 and 49, Service Areas 4 were at Exit 72, and Service Areas 6 were at Exit 107. The remains of the service areas can still be seen along the Toll Road. Today, the eastbound Service Area 4 is the home of the Indiana State Police on the Toll Road, and Service Areas 6 are truck rest areas.
This is the exit listing of the Toll Road in 1983, before the Willowcreek Plaza was built, and an open tolling system was implimented between Portage and Chicago.
And the table below shows what I believe to be the original Indiana Toll Road Exits and Service Areas dating from 1956, when it opened.
| Mile Post |
Exit Number |
Exit Name Exit Access |
Notes |
| 0 | 0 | State Line   Indianapoils Blvd 106th St Calumet (Chicago) Skyway |
|
| 5 | 1 | Westpoint
TO Calumet Ave |
|
| 5 | 1 | Westpoint TOLL PLAZA |
|
| 17 | 2 | Gary Dunes Hwy 5th St |
|
| 22 | 1 | George Ade John T McCutcheon |
Large Restaurant Sinclair Oil Products  |
| 31 | 3 | Valparasio-Chesterton Valparaiso Chesterton |
|
| 38 | 2 | Thomas A Hendricks Charles W Fairbanks |
Snack Bar Standard Oil Products  |
| 39 | 4 | Michigan City Michigan City Westville |
|
| 49 | 5 | LaPorte LaPorte |
|
| 56 | 3 | Knute Rockne Wilbur Shaw |
Small Restaurant Pure Oil Products |
| 73 | 4 | Benjamin Harrison Schuyer Colfax |
Snack Bar Standard Oil Products |
| 77 | 6 | South Bend  South Bend Niles |
|
| 90 | 5 | George N Craig Henry F Schrickner |
Large Restaurant Gulf Oil Products  |
| 92 | 7 | Elkhart Elkhart |
|
| 107 | 8 | Middlebury  Middlebury Constantine |
|
| 108 | 6 | Thomas R Marshall Wm Henry Harrison |
Snack Bar Standard Oil Products |
| 121 | 9 | Howe-LaGrange Howe LaGrange |
|
| 126 | 7 | Gene Stratton Porter Ernie Pyle |
Small Restaurant Texaco Oil Products |
| 144 | 10 | Angola Angola Ft Wayne Lansing |
|
| 148 | 8 | James W Riley Booth Tarkington |
Small Restaurant Citgo Oil Products |
| 153 | 11 | Eastpoint TOLL PLAZA |
The Gary West Interchange appears to have been built shortly after the Toll Road was built. It was numbered 1A, and appears on a 1958 map of Chicagoland/NW Indiana. Burns Harbor was built in 1964 to coincide with the completion of the Tri-State Highway (later named Frank Borman Expressway) between Illinois and the Toll Road. I suspect that the Toll Road was renumbered sometime between 1964 and 1977 as the Burns Harbor Interchange is Exit 4 on a 1978 Illinois map (thanks Marc Fannin).
I-69 was added to the Angola Interchange when it was built in the 1960s. At the same interchange in 2000, US 27 was removed from the mainline gantries (but not on the ramp ones) in anticipation of US 27's decommissioning (Marc Fannin).
The Bristol-Goshen Interchange (Indiana 15) appears to have been built sometime between 1977 and 1980.
The Indiana Depatment of Transportation
Exit
GuideNot affiated with either the old Toll Road Authority or InDOT.
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