proposed US 51 expressway from Centralia to Pana

[Lyon Wonder]

I found an online map showing the proposed alignment for the US 51 4-lane expressway from Centralia to Pana. Supposedly this is the alignment IDOT has agreed upon to build if funding ever becomes available.

http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=6667360907734152927a12102069183c&extent=-89.8893,38.5337,-88.1163,39.3688

This expressway starts at the existing 4-lane US 51 south of Centralia and bypasses Centralia to the west.  It bypasses Sandoval to the east and bypasses Vandalia to the west, merging with and sharing a several mile concurrency with I-70 until it meets an upgraded US 51 north of Vandalia that utilizes the exiting interchange at Exit 63.

[Rick Powell]

I found an online map showing the proposed alignment for the US 51 4-lane expressway from Centralia to Pana. Supposedly this is the alignment IDOT has agreed upon to build if funding ever becomes available.

http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=6667360907734152927a12102069183c&extent=-89.8893,38.5337,-88.1163,39.3688

This expressway starts at the existing 4-lane US 51 south of Centralia and bypasses Centralia to the west.  It bypasses Sandoval to the east and bypasses Vandalia to the west, merging with and sharing a several mile concurrency with I-70 until it meets an upgraded US 51 north of Vandalia that utilizes the exiting interchange at Exit 63.

Lots of info on this one at www.us51eis.com if you want more details.

[mvcg66b3r]

Lots of info on this one at www.us51eis.com if you want more details.

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[andy3175]

Try http://www.us51eis-idot.com/ instead.

[triplemultiplex]

West of Vandalia?  That doesn't seem logical.
Looks much shorter to get to I-70 east of town.  Then one only needs to expand the existing bridges over the Kaskaskia River rather than build new ones at a new crossing.  It would cross just as much floodplain and be less land and dollar intensive while providing the exact same functionality.

[midwesternroadguy]

I totally agree.  A Vandalia Bypass to the east seems so logical:  shorter, no concurrency with I-70, if designed right, a shorter river/floodplain crossing, less acquisition.   Does the EIS address this?

[Rick Powell]

I totally agree.  A Vandalia Bypass to the east seems so logical:  shorter, no concurrency with I-70, if designed right, a shorter river/floodplain crossing, less acquisition.   Does the EIS address this?

Yes, they looked at an eastern alternative and found too many issues with it.  The whole area south of Vandalia is a gigantic flood plain and there is no easy route.

[US 41]

I'm a little surprised that they are going to leave the interchange at US 51 / I-70 a diamond rather than upgrade it to a partial cloverleaf.

[Duke87]

I totally agree.  A Vandalia Bypass to the east seems so logical:  shorter, no concurrency with I-70, if designed right, a shorter river/floodplain crossing, less acquisition.   Does the EIS address this?

Yes, they looked at an eastern alternative and found too many issues with it.  The whole area south of Vandalia is a gigantic flood plain and there is no easy route.

Based on this exhibit from one of the public meetings it appears they considered a bunch of alignments east of town basically right next to the river which of course would have problems. What about something further east?

The initial brainstorming shows a few ideas further east but all of them continue past I-70 and run into river problems north of town. An eastern alignment with an I-70 concurrency appears to not have been considered.