On Wednesday, at Biggsville’s West Central High School, the public had the opportunity to attend an informational open house hosted by the Illinois Department of Transportation, regarding the widening and reconstruction of a nine mile section of U.S. Route 34, in Henderson County, from near Gulfport to T.R. 111 ( the western end of the Biggsville Bypass).
The event featured display boards of six different project designs for the widening and reconstruction of that nine mile section on U.S. 34.
Maureen Addis is the Program Development Engineer for District 4 and she is head of the Bureau that did the study on this highway reconstruction project.
Addis explains why last night’s open house is an important step in the right direction for this project,
“Sometimes when we come to a meeting like this, nobody knows their field better than a farmer, and they can tell us about a condition we may not have known or understood fully. And so we can adjust our designs to that. A road tracks through an area can have an impact to the community that sometimes you can make an adjustment that makes a world of difference to a community.”
Addis says the the public comments and input on this project will be accepted by IDOT until December 9th, and will become part of the public meeting record.
While this project is yet to get the funding it needs, which is estimated at around $125 million, the current 2 lane highway is not suited for the high volume of traffic that it endures. The project is not bonded nor is a capital bill in place as of yet, however active coalitions are in place working to raise awareness and funding. Another option which Addis considers as a last resort is to raise property taxes.
In the meantime IDOT will move forward with reviewing the public feedback, and in February they will seek agreement from The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and environmental resource agencies on which alternative project to move forward with. Involvement of the public will also be ongoing.
