Caught the C'dale Chamber of Commerce's noon presentation on economic development in Jackson County. A good chunk of it was a promotional spiel regarding upcoming events at SIUC's Small Business Development Center and development at the airport. Betwix the two was an interesting presentation by the Jackson Growth Alliance on their efforts to push through a 4 lane highway from Carbondale to St. Louis that doesn't run through Marion. The organizations proposed plan is to widen 127 to 4 lanes, bypass Pickneyville to the west and link up with the interstate at Nashville. This is something that various organizations have promoted for the region since the mid 1960s. The Pickneyville route is the least direct but also requires the least amount of construction, totaling only about 43 miles with a cost of around $140 million.
I am not an expert on this but I have talked to someone who is, as they worked for IDOT for a number of years, and they are of the opinion that this won't happen, at least not in the foreseeable future, for two reasons.
Number one is the way in which highway districts in Illinois are laid out. The border between District 9 (where we are) and District 8 (north and east of Pickneyville including the Metro East area) runs right through Pickneyville, which means both districts would have to contribute funds and approval to the project. While District 9 probably could find the money to put into the highway, any additional funds District 8 comes up with would get funneled into infrastructure improvements in the East St. Louis/Metro East area.as population density and road usage is much greater there than anywhere in District 9.
Number two is traffic flow. If you look at the statewide traffic flow map, there are about 30,000 cars that enter or exit Carbondale daily from the east. 13,000 enter or exit from the west side and the figure drops to 11,400 on the est side of Murphysboro. The north side of Murphysboro handles about 7200 cars per day and it drops to 5500 by the time you get to Nashville. There is just not enough traffic in that area to justify an expenditure of $144 million in the hope that "if you build it, they will come."
I am not an expert on this but I have talked to someone who is, as they worked for IDOT for a number of years, and they are of the opinion that this won't happen, at least not in the foreseeable future, for two reasons.
Number one is the way in which highway districts in Illinois are laid out. The border between District 9 (where we are) and District 8 (north and east of Pickneyville including the Metro East area) runs right through Pickneyville, which means both districts would have to contribute funds and approval to the project. While District 9 probably could find the money to put into the highway, any additional funds District 8 comes up with would get funneled into infrastructure improvements in the East St. Louis/Metro East area.as population density and road usage is much greater there than anywhere in District 9.
Number two is traffic flow. If you look at the statewide traffic flow map, there are about 30,000 cars that enter or exit Carbondale daily from the east. 13,000 enter or exit from the west side and the figure drops to 11,400 on the est side of Murphysboro. The north side of Murphysboro handles about 7200 cars per day and it drops to 5500 by the time you get to Nashville. There is just not enough traffic in that area to justify an expenditure of $144 million in the hope that "if you build it, they will come."
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