U.S. Route 50 Four-Lane Expressway
Build It And They Will Come...But Not Anytime Soon
By Bill Oliver
About 46 local residents attended a special public meeting Thursday
night sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation as part
of a feasibility study on the proposed widening of U.S. Route 50 from
a two-lane highway to a four-lane expressway from Lawrenceville to
Salem.
The turnout for the Flora meeting was about average according to Lee
Austen, project manager for STS Consultants, the firm employed by IDOT
to coordinate the project and conduct the feasibility studies.
Thursday night's meeting was the last of four sessions which included
Olney, Salem, and Lawrenceville.
"There were some very good questions and some legitimate concerns,"
Austen said, "but everyone seemed to agree that they are for the four-
laned road."
Represenatives of the Illinois Department of Transportation and STS
Consultants, LTD., were available to answer questions, explain
exhibits, and discuss the study process and scope of the highway plan.
Plans to widen Route 50 into a four-lane expressway have been on and
off the shelf for the last four decades. The current plan is for a 75-
mile stretch of four-lane expressway from Lawrenceville to Salem.
"Other road projects have taken priority and funding," Austen said,
"but I really believe this project will become a reality if we all
work together."
Austen said if and when the widening process begins, it will probably
be done in five to ten mile sections.
"It won't be completed all at once," he said.
Austen estimated the total cost of the project will be over $1
billion. However, he added that there are no funds allocated for the
project at the present time.
Among the issues being addressed for the feasibility study are:
*Can improvements be accomplished without creating possible negative
effects on social, economic and environmental aspects?
*Will the improvements allow traffic to move more efficiently and
safely?
*Will the benefits outweigh the costs?
In the Flora area, Austen said the expressway would be a definite
advantage for Industrial Park, and it could lead to further
development along the route.
"If there is going to be any major retail development in Flora, it
will more than likely be along the highway and not in the downtown
area," he said. "The four-lane would be very positive for future
growth. And perhaps, in time, some of that growth would move to the
downtown area." Austen said that there is a daily average of about 6,
000 vehicles that pass Flora on Route 50 at the present time.
Austen said all of the communities involved in the project must work
together and make their voices heard in Springfield.
"People are going to have to work together and work with the other
counties," he said. "There are only so many dollars in the state's
coffers, and the areas that get those dollars first are the ones that
pull together."
Although U.S. Route 50 is a federal highway, Illinois is footing the
bill for the feasibility studies which will determine what federal
funding will become available should the plans for the expressway
become a reality.
Although he feels positive that the four-lane project will someday be
completed. Austen is also realistic.
"I don't anticipate driving on it in my lifetime."
PART 2
Route 50 Four-Lane Expansion Just Five Years Away...In 1974
If the traffic along U.S. Route 50 moved as slowly as the wheels of
government, we would also still be using oats for fuel.
The Illinois Department of Transportation conducted a public meeting
last week as part of a feasibility study to get input on the
possibility of turning U.S. Route 50 from Lawrenceville to Salem into
a four-lane expressway. It's not a new idea. In fact, it's been on and
off the shelf for several decades.
For example, back in December of 1973, Illinois Governor Dan Walker
signed a Regional Transit System bill that would nearly have
guaranteed a four-lane highway around Flora extending from Clay City
to Xenia. Also attached to that bill was a statewide lottery.
The downstate freeway system was a point of bitter contention all year
between downstate Republicans and the Governor. Finally, the downstate
legislators were able to get the freeway bill incorporated into the
Governor's top priority legislation. State Represenative Roscoe
Cunningham played a major role in the battle for better roads through
Flora.
The four-lane project from Clay City to Xenia was part of a long-range
plan for a four-lane freeway between Vincennes, Indiana, and St.
Louis.
In the bill, $9.5 million was appropriated for the 15-mile stretch
from Clay City to Xenia. It included $500,000 for a study and $9
million for the actual land acquisition and construction.
One of the loopholes for the four-lane Flora bypass funding was "time.
" There were only six months to spend the money before the fiscal year
ended. If it wasn't spent before June 30th, 1974, it would revert back
to the state's general fund.
It was beginning to look as though the four-lane bypass would become a
reality - but, of course, it didn't.
In the spring of 1974, the Illinois Department of Transportation
publicly stated that the start of a four-lane freeway between Carlyle
and Vincennes was about five to seven years away. H.L. Weir, District
7 Engineer for IDOT was the guest speaker at a meeting of the Embarras
Regional Planning and Development Commission in April of 1974. The
Embarras Commission represented Clay, Jasper, Richland, Lawrence, and
Crawford counties and had local government officials from each county
working together for the betterment of the five-county area.
The four-lane road now on the table was still part of the Regional
Transit Authority proposal and about $200 million had been set aside
for the project.
Weir said at the time that planning for sections of the freeway was
underway, but it would be some time before funds were secured and
construction started.
He said several steps had to be completed before the start of
construction. First, IDOT had to get corridor approval for a path for
the new four-lane road. Then, an environmental impact study would have
to be made on the corridor. IDOT would then have to design all aspects
of the highway. He said the entire process would take between five and
seven years.
Weir detailed some of the progress being made on various segments of
the four-lane highway.
He said the design for the stretch from Carlyle to Xenia had been
completed and IDOT was awaiting environmental hearings.
Approval had been given to finalize the design and hold hearings on
the stretch from Xenia to Clay City. The corridor from Clay City to
Lawrenceville had also been selected, but approval was being held up
because of a controversy over taking the highway through Red Hill
State Park.
Clay County Engineer Roger Edmison asked Weir if his department had
come up with a site for the Clay City interchange on the new road.
Edmision said there were concerns about the interchange taking
property inside village limits.
Weir said the final location of the interchange was undecided and that
a site about a mile east of Clay City was being studied along with the
site at the intersection with Clay City's Main Street.
Weir also told the meeting that a contract for improvement of U.S. 45
from Louisville north to the Clay County line was let, but the bids
were 10 percent over the estimate.
So, over thirty years ago a Route 50 four-lane expansion was in the
planning stages and those plans are once again resurfacing. But, as
Lee Austen, project manager for the current feasibility study said at
last Thursday's public meeting, those among us now living will
probably never drive on the U.S. 50 expressway. But he is confident it
will be constructed...somday.
THE HOMETOWN JOURNAL
CLAY COUNTY, ILLINOIS
APRIL 3, 2006
Author
Topic: A Little US-50 History in Southern Illinois -- Interesting Article (Read 11113 times)