U.S. Route 41 in the state of Indiana is a north-south US Highway that is parallel to the Illinois state line. It enters the state south of Evansville as a four-lane divided highway passing around Vincennes and traveling north to Terre Haute. In Terre Haute, it is known as 3rd Street. North of Terre Haute, it hooks east and becomes a two-lane surface road. Those wanting to stay on a four-lane divided highway can use State Road 63 to the west. It passes through Rockville, Veedersburg, and Attica before returning to a four-lane divided highway when SR 63 terminates in Warren County. It remains a four-lane divided highway until Lake County where it becomes a main road known as Indianapolis Boulevard. It overlaps US 12 and US 20 in Hammond and exits Indiana into the South Side of Chicago.
Route description
US Route 41 is a largely rural road in western Indiana. It begins crossing the Ohio River using the Bi-State Vietnam Gold Star Bridges, commonly known as "The Twin Bridges", from Henderson, KY into Evansville. Through Evansville, US 41 is again a standard arterial roadway with traffic lights and urban congestion. North of Evansville, the road becomes a rural four-lane highway. The highway reaches Interstate 64, then has an interchange with SR 64 near Princeton, as it heads north towards Vincennes. South of Vincennes, US 41 turns into an Interstate-standard freeway and bypasses the east side of Vincennes with interchanges and grade separations. In the middle of this bypass there is a modern three-level stack interchange with US 50 and US 150 eastbound, headed for Washington, Cincinnati, OH, and Louisville, KY. US 50 splits to the west in the city, heading for Lawrenceville, IL, and St. Louis, MO, while US 41 and US 150 continue north. North of Vincennes, the expressway turns into a four-lane divided highway, a relatively older highway coated with asphalt and a narrow median. US 41 and US 150 pass through Sullivan before entering Terre Haute. US 150 leaves the multiplex in the south end of the city, headed west towards Danville and Moline, IL, while US 41 continues north through Terre Haute. Through town, US 41 is an urban arterial road with traffic lights, approaches an interchange with Interstate 70, then passing Honey Creek Mall and Indiana State University. Past Terre Haute, SR 63 splits to the northwest as an Interstate-standard four-lane highway towards Clinton. US 41 heads northeast as a rural two-lane US Highway, passing through the communities of Rockville and Bloomingdale. The road reaches Interstate 74 at Veedersburg, where it briefly divides into a four-lane highway. US 41 again reduces to a two-lane highway and continues north, going past Rob Roy and Attica. Past Attica, US 41 turns northwest and rejoins the four-lane highway near Kramer, at the northern terminus of SR 63. US 41 continues northbound as a divided highway with a few crossovers at SR 26, SR 352 at Boswell, and SR 18. The southbound lanes are the original concrete from the early 1970s while the northbound lanes contain a thin asphalt overlay, which tends to provide a bumpy ride. Past SR 63, US 41 has an interchange with US 52 eastbound, which heads southeast towards Lafayette and Indianapolis as a four-lane divided rural highway. US 52 westbound joins with US 41 heading north towards Kentland In 2008, a wind farm was built next to the highway near Earl Park. In Kentland, the road junctions with US 24. US 52 westbound leaves the multiplex here with US 24, heading for Watseka, IL, Kankakee, IL, and Peoria, IL, while US 24 east heads to Logansport and Huntington. US 41 becomes a four-lane divided US highway past this junction. It is relatively an older divided highway with a narrow median. This highway used to be a two-lane route. One side of the highway is rolling and wavy, while the other half of the highway is built flat and to more modern standards. This portion of the route is mainly asphalt. According to the Indiana Department of Transportation, the twinning of US 41 in Indiana was begun in 1951, with construction progressing from south to north. Up until the mid-1990s, many older styled bridges existed on the route, including a 1930s-era truss bridge across the Kankakee River in Schneider and some concrete bridges at the railroad overpass near Morocco and the Iroquois River bridge. All of these bridges have since been updated to INDOT's latest standards using concrete latex overlays and new concrete bridge decks. Traffic volumes on this section of highway are relatively low and many intersections contain 1940s- and 1950s-era former gas stations, diners and businesses associated with the highway before Interstate 65 was built in the early 1960s. Many of these businesses have been converted to new uses, such as used car dealerships and offices, while some have been abandoned, which provides an experience similar to U.S. Route 66 when traveling on this highway. US 41 is sometimes considered an alternate to Interstate 65 due to its low traffic volumes. From Kentland, US 41 passes through the towns and villages of Ade, Enos, Lake Village, and Schneider, before entering Cedar Lake. Once in Cedar Lake, US 41 becomes an undivided four-lane arterial road. The road passes through the bedroom communities of St. John, Schererville, and Highland. Entering the urban core of Northwest Indiana, the route goes through Hammond and Whiting before exiting Indiana and entering Illinois in Chicago. In total, US 41 covers nearly from Evansville on the south end to Whiting in the north. US 41 in Indiana was featured in the famous crop duster scene in the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest, although the scene was actually filmed near Bakersfield, California.
History
Until the designation of US 41 on October 1, 1926, the alignment was called SR 10.
