http://www.66corridor.org/announcements.html (http://www.66corridor.org/announcements.html)
I-66 needs to cross the Mississippi River, not the Ohio River. Therefore, it should run directly from Kentucky to Missouri and not enter Illinois.
If I wasn't on the night shift I would made a short road trip. It needs to go cross somewhere between Memphis and Cape but not the Ohio River. If it needed to cross the Ohio it should be done near Cairo, where the need of a replacement bridge is much greater there than Paducah.
Of course, this new study wouldn't be necessary had IDOT joined with Kentucky and Missouri to do the study they conducted *last decade*.
And, really, the only sensible crossing route runs due east from Sikeston to Paducah south of Wickliffe, not entering Illinois at all.
Ah, but IL needs yet another 2di as I-24, I-39, I-41, I-55, I-57, I-64, I-70, I-72, I-74, I-80, I-90 and I-94 are lonely...
more seriously, IL wants something completely different out of I-66 - a Paducah - Cape Girardeau freeway (it can't be to remove I-24 traffic from I-57 and I-64, given that route would be about 20 miles shorter than any route via 'I-66'). This can be done ignoring IL via a bridge over the Mississippi near Wickliffe, but I doubt MO would want a freeway that runs roughly from Benton to Wilson City (where it would join the MO ideal of Wickliffe-Wilson City-Charleston freeway), doing nothing but cutting a short corner off compared to going via Sikeston.
Oh, and an Illinois study, even if it minimises the amount it would have to build, will still route it via Cairo, rather than dodge IL. As Cairo's bridges need replacement anyway, two bridges via Cairo much less sensible than bridging a mile or two to the south of the confluence, and will probably (if and when IL sits down with MO and KY) be what happens eventually.
It might have to do with IDOT trying to get new bridge money but I found there is an old obsession for a Cape to Paducah highway at IDOT . Such a route never made it to the supplemental freeway plan or any other IDOT plan until this 66 idea. Years ago I was told about the idea but they thought Mo and KY should pitch in ...I agree It sure doesn't seem to be of interest to KY ( see above) so IDOT needs to focus on roads of interest to its residents(see other recent news postings)
So they're trying to revive the Transamerica Corridor, even though it's dead west of Wichita?
I agree with most everyone else in this thread; build a bridge directly connecting Missouri and Kentucky. You could then route MO/KY 80 and/or US 62 across it (or an interstate if the approaches are built to interstate standards).
Quote from: english si on July 15, 2013, 08:25:59 AM
IL wants something completely different out of I-66 - a Paducah - Cape Girardeau freeway
Yeah, have you been on Tick Ridge Road?? It's
jam-PACKED with cars! Or not.
The Document Library (http://www.66corridor.org/Library.html) for tonight's meeting has been posted.
This article (http://wkms.org/post/idot-seeks-public-input-interstate-project-1) mentions an opposition group that has already formed:
Quote
Terri Treacy from Pope County, Illinois is against the project. She thinks it's a waste of money.
""I think we have enough highways already running through here," Treacy said. "We already have 57 and 24 that run through southernmost Illinois. I think this is just a big boondoggle, an unneeded highway.
She and other opponents to the project have formed a group called Citizens for Southernmost Illinois to fight the I-66 highway.