Moline

Moline is one of the Quad Cities in Western Illinois. Moline's downtown serves as one of the civic and recreational hubs of the Quad Cities; many events take place at the 12,000-seat TaxSlayer Center (formerly known as The MARK of the Quad Cities and iWireless Center) and at John Deere Commons.

Understand

Moline is in Rock Island County, and has an estimated population of 42,000 in 2018. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The corporate headquarters of Deere & Company is in Moline, as is Quad City International Airport, Black Hawk College, and the Quad Cities campus of Western Illinois University. Moline is a retail hub for the Illinois Quad Cities, as Southpark Mall and numerous big-box shopping plazas are in the city.

In the mid-1990s, the city undertook major efforts to revitalize its central business district, which had declined after suburban growth and retail changes after the 1950s and 1960s.

Visitor information
  • Quad City International Airport, 2200 69th Ave., ☏ +1 309 757-1773. Staffed: M-Th 8AM-4:30PM; doors to the visitor center remain open for access to brochure racks, maps, and visitor guides when the airport is open. The airport visitor center is located diagonally across from the gift shop, near the hanging monocoupe plane, and assists visitors and passengers with information about the airport as well as Quad City visitor information. 
  • RiverStation / Bass Street Landing, 1601 River Drive, Suite 110, ☏ +1 309 277-0937. M-F 8:30AM-5PM, year-round. A full-service visitor center and gift shop located on the John Deere Commons in downtown Moline. It offers visitor information, maps, gifts, souvenirs, postcards, locally-made food and drink, Quad Cities merchandise, and bike rentals. 

Get in

Moline is about 165 miles west of Chicago and midway between Minneapolis to the north and St. Louis to the South. 37.4 million people reside within a 300-mile radius of Moline, which comprises almost 13% of the nation’s population. Moline and its neighbors help form the largest urban concentration between St. Louis and Minneapolis along the Mississippi River. Major interstates I-80, I-88 and I-74 provide ready access in all directions.

By plane
  • 🌍 Quad City International Airport (MLI  IATA), 2200 69th Ave (the main entrance road leads to Interstates 74 & 280), ☏ +1 309 764-9621 (general information), +1 309 757-1739 (public safety). Administrative office hours: M–F 8AM–4:30PM; closed noon–1PM, and all major holidays. The airport in Moline serves the regional Quad City area. While this is called an "international airport", and there is a U.S. Customs office attached to it, it is for all intents and purposes a regional airport with no international flights. All signage is in English. 
Four airlines offer non-stop flights from major markets primarily in the Midwest, the South and Southwest United States.
Major rental car companies serve the airport and there are also taxi and shuttle companies available. There is generally not a line of taxis at the airport, but there is a list of taxi companies, as well as shuttle services, associated with the airport on the Ground Transportation page of the airport's website. It is best to make arrangements before arrival. MetroLINK Route 20 bus, also known as Route 20 Blue, makes two stops an hour at the terminal near the baggage claim area. It terminates at Centre Station in downtown Moline and connections can be made to other Illinois destinations. Iowa connections can be made via Bettendorf Transit Route 1, however, it is best to make other arraignments.(MLI  IATA).

By train
  • Amtrak Moline (MLI), 1200 River Drive, Centre Station. Station with waiting room but no ticket office or amenities. As of March 2016, Amtrak is still busing passengers from Moline to Galesburg, Illinois (50 minutes away), to catch onward trains to Chicago; work is in progress to inaugurate Amtrak direct service between Chicago and Moline. $40-72 (Chicago, one-way). (updated Feb 2016)

Get around

You can see all of the Quad Cities from the Channel Cat Water Taxi, an open-air boat that transports people and bicycles to Iowa and Illinois shorelines.

Quad Cities MetroLINK serves Moline and the other Illinois Quad Cities.

See
  • John Deere Pavilion, 1400 River Drive, ☏ +1 309 765-1000. 9AM to 5PM. A fun place to learn about John Deere and climb on a Combine. Free. 
  • Deere & Company World Headquarters, One John Deere Place Moline (just off IL-5/John Deere Road, about 3.5 miles east of the intersection of I-74 and IL-5), ☏ +1 309 765-8000. Daily 9AM - 5PM. 1,400 acres of beautifully kept land, home to a variety of wildlife including white tail deer, ducks, geese and swans. The display floor is open to visitors 365 days a year, from 9AM-5PM Visitors can look at displays of antique John Deere equipment, and a variety of the company's new equipment offerings. Free. 

Do
  • Celebration River Cruises, 2501 River Dr, ☏ +1 309 764-1952. Take a paddlewheel boat up and down the Mississippi. (updated Aug 2023)
  • 🌍 Sylvan Island, 1st Ave & 2nd Street. On this Mississippi River island you can hike or bike in a canopy of trees that used to be an industrial site, but there are places to take in plenty of views too. (updated Aug 2023)

Eat

Sleep

Cope

Consulates

Go next
Routes through Moline
Davenport ← Bettendorf ←  N  S  → Galesburg → Peoria
Davenport ← Rock Island ←  W  E  → END
Davenport ← Bettendorf ←  W  E  → Peru-LaSalle → Joliet
END ←  W  E  → Galesburg → Peoria
END ← Rock Island ←  W  E  → becomes → Sterling-Rock Falls → Chicago


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