I-57 to be widened between I-64 and I-24

[Revive 755]

So will I-57 at Marion have the first instance of a DDI and SPUI next to each other?

[kharvey10]

won't be a DDI its more of a standard diamond with C/D ramps and a spui

[kharvey10]

I went back through that zone northbound and there was about a 8 mile delay from Rend Lake College exit (Ina) almost to 64 south split in the southbound lanes.  Most of the traffic stuck in the delay was truck traffic (the locals know better, they either been using 37 or 148 in the area).

[Revive 755]

won't be a DDI its more of a standard diamond with C/D ramps and a spui

Looks like a DDI to me, unless there has been another revision.
http://www.dot.state.il.us/I57-IL13/docs/2%20-%20090607%20Plan%20Exhibit%20%28DDI%29.pdf

[RoadWarrior56]

I will be driving that section of I-57 in mid August, as I head back to Atlanta from St. Louis.  I am assuming that I will have to be mindfull of delays in the Marion/Carbondale area.  Are these days all the time, or just at certain hours?  I may want to consider SR 37 to get through that area.

[kharvey10]

I will be driving that section of I-57 in mid August, as I head back to Atlanta from St. Louis.  I am assuming that I will have to be mindfull of delays in the Marion/Carbondale area.  Are these days all the time, or just at certain hours?  I may want to consider SR 37 to get through that area.

Most of the delays are southbound only.  The worst of the delays tend to happen during daylight hours as workers are more likely going to be out there.

There is work going on at the West Frankfort exit but that has no lane restrictions (there is a lane shift, however, and things will get tight).

[RoadWarrior56]

Southbound is the direction I will be traveling on I-57 and likely in the morning hours.  My northbound trip will be via Evansville, so I won't be anywhere near the construction zone in that direction.  I may want to explore an alternate route in that area when I head south.

[kharvey10]

Widening work is underway in Mt. Vernon as I speak, with the northbound exit for IL 15 (Broadway) partially closed.

[kharvey10]

has nothing to do with the widening but the section of 57 through southern Illinois is 50 years old now
http://www.wsiltv.com/news/local/I-57-Marks-50th-Anniversary-130599218.html

[ShawnP]

Good link and the pavement thru Mt. Vernon looks every bit of 50 years old.

[kharvey10]

http://www.wsiltv.com/news/your-community/jefferson-washington/I-57-Work-Continues-in-Mt-Vernon-133572338.html

WSIL got this article tonight

[kphoger]

I used to drive this highway pretty much every day between late 2006 and the end of 2007.  I drove a delivery truck, and my usual route included I-57 from at least Mount Vernon (sometimes as far north as Effingham) down to Marion.  Sometimes I would cover a route that would take me down to western Kentucky.

Traffic volumes are not substantially high in the area, and don't fluctuate much.  I never encountered traffic backed up the entire time I lived and worked in the area except for road work and major accidents.  However, as already noted, traffic volume is high enough to get nasty when lanes are reduced due to an accident or road work.  I used to use IL-37, parallel to I-57, all the time - but only because I was making deliveries in every town along the way, and once when my personal car had a transaxle issue which caused it not to go over 2nd gear all the way from the Sesser exit to my home in Herrin.  That road is two lanes with moderate traffic, no shoulders, and local access all along the way; Benton's downtown has an uncontrolled traffic circle which is terrible even with normal traffic; I have experienced it once when traffic was diverted from I-57, and I would never want to again.  IL-148 is a decent alternate route (one I'm only familiar with south of Christopher), but only if you're going all the way from Mount Vernon to south of Marion.

The multiplex in Mount Vernon should have been three lanes each way for years now, and I wish I had lived there when they put in the Vets Memorial exit.  In my opinion, this stretch is right on the line between needing to be widened and not needing to.  I-64, I-70, and I-24 do just fine with their four lanes; if the money is there, I-57 is where it should go.

[adt1982]

Yep, that traffic circle in Benton is a horrible mess.

[kphoger]

If they would turn it into a proper roundabout with yield signs and no parking (though allowing ped traffic to the courthouse), it would be a little better.  But, honestly, traffic volume is high enough that both streets need to be four-laned (which would turn the intersection into a two-lane roundabout); unfortunately, there isn't really room enough to do that.

My wife used to work at an office right on "The Square", as the circle is called, and I used to navigate it pretty much every day.  At times, it barely functions at all, queueing traffic up for blocks in either direction.  Totally insufficient as a relief route for I-57, and no real way around it (any potential bypass uses bumpy city and county roads).

[kharvey10]

Its been a long time since this been replied but there are several updates

1. The IL 13/Morgan Street interchange project is nearing completion, the SPUI is virtually complete and Morgan Street is getting some finishing touches.
2. Widening work is underway north of Marion.
3.  Widening work in Mt. Vernon wrapped up November 2013.  However, there is now work on the north split with I-64, now with lane closures and complete with black on orange I-57 and I-64 shields that just popped up last week.
4. I-57 from Mt. Vernon to Effingham is very rough, especially in Marion County (hint: controlled by District 8, long known to give zero **** to counties not in the Metro East - and there were some big epic fails this past winter on this part of 57).

[codyg1985]

What's IDOT doing at the north split between I-57 and I-64? That seems pretty recent.

[adt1982]

4. I-57 from Mt. Vernon to Effingham is very rough, especially in Marion County (hint: controlled by District 8, long known to give zero **** to counties not in the Metro East - and there were some big epic fails this past winter on this part of 57).

In fact, there are rough road signs as you enter Marion County on 57.

[kharvey10]

Cody: work at the interchange itself

By the way, these such signs are found in Ashley, Centralia, Mt. Vernon, and Sesser

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204322407411120&set=pcb.720425928040660&type=1&theater

[Gnutella]

Good stuff. I've traveled that segment of I-57 many times and always felt that a third lane in each direction would help alleviate the rolling road blocks.

[adventurernumber1]

I've been looking at this portion of I-57 on Google Maps tonight (on street view), and thought about this thread, which I have looked at before in recent months.

I'd say this is indeed a good idea to widen the stretch, not to mention the asphalt looks like it could use a resurfacing anyway
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7053327,-88.9629447,3a,75y,31.39h,88.42t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sm7iCcBNFSe0ChMEk8YJcXA!2e0

[Bobby5280]

It kinda sucks how I-24 doesn't have a more direct path to St. Louis.

[codyg1985]

It kinda sucks how I-24 doesn't have a more direct path to St. Louis.

If that were the case, then potentially I-57 wouldn't need to be widened between I-24 and I-64. I always wonder why it wasn't tied into I-255 at the IL 3 South interchange.

[Brandon]

It kinda sucks how I-24 doesn't have a more direct path to St. Louis.

If that were the case, then potentially I-57 wouldn't need to be widened between I-24 and I-64. I always wonder why it wasn't tied into I-255 at the IL 3 South interchange.

I think IDOT (or their predecessor) had a plan for I-24 to continue into either there or East St Louis.  There's an odd stub of a freeway that I've never understood the existence for.  Maybe one of the others could shed some light on it.

Here's the stub: https://www.google.com/maps?ll=38.61231,-90.161533&spn=0.019986,0.042272&t=h&z=15

[Alex]

It kinda sucks how I-24 doesn't have a more direct path to St. Louis.

If that were the case, then potentially I-57 wouldn't need to be widened between I-24 and I-64. I always wonder why it wasn't tied into I-255 at the IL 3 South interchange.

I think IDOT (or their predecessor) had a plan for I-24 to continue into either there or East St Louis.  There's an odd stub of a freeway that I've never understood the existence for.  Maybe one of the others could shed some light on it.

Here's the stub: https://www.google.com/maps?ll=38.61231,-90.161533&spn=0.019986,0.042272&t=h&z=15

That was built for the unconstructed US 460 freeway. One proposal took it east a short distance to Illinois 15 at I-255.

[Brandon]

It kinda sucks how I-24 doesn't have a more direct path to St. Louis.

If that were the case, then potentially I-57 wouldn't need to be widened between I-24 and I-64. I always wonder why it wasn't tied into I-255 at the IL 3 South interchange.

I think IDOT (or their predecessor) had a plan for I-24 to continue into either there or East St Louis.  There's an odd stub of a freeway that I've never understood the existence for.  Maybe one of the others could shed some light on it.

Here's the stub: https://www.google.com/maps?ll=38.61231,-90.161533&spn=0.019986,0.042272&t=h&z=15

That was built for the unconstructed US 460 freeway. One proposal took it east a short distance to Illinois 15 at I-255.

That's what I thought, ultimately connecting to the IL-15 expressway around Belleville.  It would've worked for connecting I-24 as well.  However, IIRC, the route could never be justified due to traffic counts and the proximity of I-55 on the west side of the Mississippi River.  There was a study to extend I-24 as a tollway in the 1970s/1980s, and the proposed traffic counts were still too low.

I-24 might have been more viable there if the original plan for I-64 was followed.  I-64 was supposed to follow US-50 east to Vincennes (the freeway there is a part of it).  In that scenario, I-24 could've gone more directly to Carbondale from East St Louis without another freeway in close proximity.