Interstate 57 is an Interstate Highway in Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 and Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 that parallels the old Illinois Central rail line for much of its route. It goes from Miner, Missouri

Miner, Missouri

Miner is a city in Mississippi and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. It borders the city of Sikeston to the east. The population was 1,056 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Miner is located at ....

, at Interstate 55

Interstate 55

Interstate 55 is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Its odd number indicates that it is a north–south Interstate Highway. I-55 goes from LaPlace, Louisiana at Interstate 10 to Chicago at U.S. Route 41 , at McCormick Place. A common nickname for the highway is "double...

 to Chicago, Illinois

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, at Interstate 94

Interstate 94

Interstate 94 is the northernmost east–west Interstate Highway, connecting the Great Lakes and Intermountain regions of the United States. I-94's western terminus is in Billings, Montana at a junction with Interstate 90; its eastern terminus is the U.S...

. I-57 essentially serves as a shortcut route for travelers headed between the south (Memphis, New Orleans, etc.) and Chicago, bypassing St. Louis, Missouri. It serves a similar purpose as Interstate 12

Interstate 12

Interstate 12 is an intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the state of Louisiana. I-12 starts in Baton Rouge at Interstate 10, and travels along the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain before ending at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Interstate 59 near Slidell...

, which is a bypass of New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

 for through traffic on Interstate 10

Interstate 10

Interstate 10 is the fourth-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90, I-80, and I-40. It is the southernmost east–west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway, although I-4 and I-8 are further south. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 in Santa Monica,...

.