I-57 Approved

[MikieTimT]

I went back and looked at the MoDOT planning documents. I remember they had I-57 going around the Neelyville Baptist Church to the west, and the current ROW maps shows the church as a potential relocation property without the bypass.

They (the church) had just built a new building and had objected to having it torn down so soon. So perhaps in the interim they came up with something they agreed to.

Looks like they've recommended bulldozing the church to remove 3 curves and save a house and $200K.

[Rick Powell]

I-57 is going to end up with a gap just like the BVB, I'm afraid.

If so, at least it won't be 18 miles through a rocky bluff.   Assuming AR builds its piece up to the state line, 2 miles of flatland interstate will not be a huge lift when the time comes.

[edwaleni]

I went back and looked at the MoDOT planning documents. I remember they had I-57 going around the Neelyville Baptist Church to the west, and the current ROW maps shows the church as a potential relocation property without the bypass.

They (the church) had just built a new building and had objected to having it torn down so soon. So perhaps in the interim they came up with something they agreed to.

Looks like they've recommended bulldozing the church to remove 3 curves and save a house and $200K.

I didnt catch this in the re-evaluation. The bypass is still in the maps in the document however.

Fellowship Southern Baptist Church of Neelyville
In the 2005 EIS, the alignment of Alternate R was proposed to the west of the Fellowship Southern
Baptist Church of Neelyville to avoid the church. This church was newly constructed at the time of the
2005 EIS. This area has been reviewed and a modified Alternate R has been developed, which removes
the western shift and straightens out the alignment. The modified Alternate R lies adjacent to the west
right of way of existing Route 67. Impacts associated with the straightened alignment differ from what
was presented in the 2005 EIS, particularly that the church is now counted as a displacement. A
comparison of impacts between the original Alternate R from the 2005 EIS and the modified Alternate R
is provided in Appendix A of this re-evaluation.

Appendix A says:

 Modify Alternate R at the Fellowship Southern Baptist Church of Neelyville by:
o removing the curves that place the alternative west of the church,
o straightening the alignment so that it is parallel and adjacent to existing Route 67, and
o providing an overpass at CR 338 for connectivity between frontage roads on either side of
proposed Route 67

I love how they word this so that the change doesn't say "tear the church down" they state it in how placing a bypass there causes undue harm to farmland, ecology, and the goals of US-67.

For what its worth, the trees they say will have to be removed used to be along the Hoxie Subdivision of the Frisco (StL&SF) Railroad. It ran from Cape Girardeau to Walnut Ridge/Hoxie and crossed US-67 there. It was abandoned in 1965.

[MikieTimT]

Yeah, right above that in Tables 1 and 2, it is indicated in the Modified Alternate R that the church is toast, it's just they refer to it as "displaced".  Like they're going to pick it up and move it over...

[mvak36]

I-57 is going to end up with a gap just like the BVB, I'm afraid.

I think they will (hopefully) get the gap completed faster than the BVB. It's a lot easier terrain.

[MikieTimT]

I-57 is going to end up with a gap just like the BVB, I'm afraid.

I think they will (hopefully) get the gap completed faster than the BVB. It's a lot easier terrain.

For sure.
No comparison.
https://goo.gl/maps/CzyZpN7AyKUwbArS8
vs.
https://goo.gl/maps/nGFURCivbvAunsW86

Only difficulties whatsoever are funding, bridges, and maybe locating fill to build up the carriageways.

[Rick Powell]

Yeah, right above that in Tables 1 and 2, it is indicated in the Modified Alternate R that the church is toast, it's just they refer to it as "displaced".  Like they're going to pick it up and move it over...

Although it's been done before. The house that sits on the northeast quadrant of IL 71 and I-39 was right on the centerline of the soon-to-be-built I-39. The owners took the buyout, but then hired a house-moving company to move the house to an adjacent plot of land rather than being demolished.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.2650386,-89.0797393,3a,15y,72.64h,84.93t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s7poKyIZt7z9SCavFHyDA6Q!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D7poKyIZt7z9SCavFHyDA6Q%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D196.98962%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

[abqtraveler]

Yeah, right above that in Tables 1 and 2, it is indicated in the Modified Alternate R that the church is toast, it's just they refer to it as "displaced".  Like they're going to pick it up and move it over...

The DOT would have to pay to "relocate" the church. In other words, the Fellowship Baptist Church would get a shiny new campus in a new location on the taxpayer dime before the current one gets bulldozed to make way for the freeway.

[edwaleni]

Yeah, right above that in Tables 1 and 2, it is indicated in the Modified Alternate R that the church is toast, it's just they refer to it as "displaced".  Like they're going to pick it up and move it over...

The DOT would have to pay to "relocate" the church. In other words, the Fellowship Baptist Church would get a shiny new campus in a new location on the taxpayer dime before the current one gets bulldozed to make way for the freeway.

I am looking at their lot now and it appears the new church building was built (in 2022) at the back end of their property. I would surmise that they will probably keep the new building and have a driveway on a frontage road.

Then the only building to take would be the old one.

So it definitely appears they were aware that the bypass was not going to happen.

[abqtraveler]

Construction starts on the US-67/167 widening through Jacksonville next Monday. It doesn't look like there will be any king of groundbreaking ceremony. It'll just be the construction crews moving in and getting to work.

https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/construction-hwy-67-jacksonville/91-afa40030-fe1e-49cc-9b92-6def3698802e

[Tomahawkin]

Are we getting 6 lanes or 8 lanes total through Jacksonville? I'm guessing Arkansas is too Cheap to go to 8 lanes through that stretch?

[Great Lakes Roads]

Are we getting 6 lanes or 8 lanes total through Jacksonville? I'm guessing Arkansas is too Cheap to go to 8 lanes through that stretch?

6 lanes to match the other reconstructed sections.

[DJStephens]

Six through main lanes through a burg the size of Jacksonville AR should be plenty.   

[sprjus4]

Six through main lanes through a burg the size of Jacksonville AR should be plenty.

For this specific instance, true, but using the size of a particular locality the highway is passing through, to determine the number of lanes, isn't a good measure.

It should be based off traffic volumes. A major 8 lane interstate highway with 100,000 AADT passing through a rural area should be no less than 8 lanes, even if there's no physical city or town there.

[Bobby5280]

In the specific case of the Jacksonville segment, that substandard segment is bookended on both sides by newer 3x3 configured freeways. It would be weird those couple of new miles of road as a 4x4 configuration, even if AADT figures could justify it.

[sprjus4]

In the specific case of the Jacksonville segment, that substandard segment is bookended on both sides by newer 3x3 configured freeways. It would be weird those couple of new miles of road as a 4x4 configuration, even if AADT figures could justify it.

Auxiliary lanes perhaps? But yeah, otherwise, I would agree. 6 lanes is probably adequate.

[MikieTimT]

In the specific case of the Jacksonville segment, that substandard segment is bookended on both sides by newer 3x3 configured freeways. It would be weird those couple of new miles of road as a 4x4 configuration, even if AADT figures could justify it.

Auxiliary lanes perhaps? But yeah, otherwise, I would agree. 6 lanes is probably adequate.

They are converting the access roads in that 2 mile stretch to 1 way on each side.  The local traffic should be more than handled with 2 lane access roads on each side.

[abqtraveler]

Updated GSV images from earlier this month show US-67/167 is now under construction. Lots of orange barrels, with the bulk of the initial work taking place on the frontage roads.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.8708206,-92.124021,3a,75y,162.53h,90.29t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sUqA15gwBagCXfRD0-gZU_Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[Road Hog]

Updated GSV images from earlier this month show US-67/167 is now under construction. Lots of orange barrels, with the bulk of the initial work taking place on the frontage roads.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.8708206,-92.124021,3a,75y,162.53h,90.29t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sUqA15gwBagCXfRD0-gZU_Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

At least in front of the old Ramada, it looks like they're not having to take too much new ROW - maybe 6 or 7 feet. Might be a different story when they get down to Gregory Street.

[rte66man]

from the Central States board:

Section 19.309. To the Department of Transportation
2 For right of way acquisition and utility improvements in Butler County
3 along U.S. Highway 67 from County Road 352 south to the
4 Arkansas state Line
From General Revenue Fund (0101). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000,0005

It's a start.

[DJStephens]

Updated GSV images from earlier this month show US-67/167 is now under construction. Lots of orange barrels, with the bulk of the initial work taking place on the frontage roads.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.8708206,-92.124021,3a,75y,162.53h,90.29t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sUqA15gwBagCXfRD0-gZU_Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Original concrete pavement, guessing close to fifty years old.   

[I-39]

Has Missouri started on phases 1B and 2 on the I-57 upgrade south of Route 158?

Also, is there a timetable for the funding of phase 3?

[Road Hog]

Updated GSV images from earlier this month show US-67/167 is now under construction. Lots of orange barrels, with the bulk of the initial work taking place on the frontage roads.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.8708206,-92.124021,3a,75y,162.53h,90.29t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sUqA15gwBagCXfRD0-gZU_Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Original concrete pavement, guessing close to fifty years old.

Almost certainly closer to sixty years old. I think that part of the highway through J'ville was built in the mid-60s. I know it got to AR 89 in Cabot in 1970 because of date etchings on the back of old signs there.

[capt.ron]

The "Jacksonville Freeway" opened in 1962 from the McCain exit to Vandenburg Blvd and extended to the Pulaski / Lonoke Co. line by 1965-66.

[capt.ron]

I went through the southern Missouri part of US 67 and the US 67-160 interchange between Poplar Bluff and Neelyville is getting new ramps.