It Lives

Looks like Interstate 66 nee the Shawnee Parkway still lives. According to the meeting of the Sierra Club I attended, this time the plan is to propose building the Parkway in segments, thus lessening the apparently environmental impact when the necessary studies are completed. After all, short segments of Interstate highways cause less environmental damage than does a full stretch of highway through wetlands.

Shawnee Parkway

In case you are interested, here is a link to the project that won't die, the Shawnee Parkway. The hope is to run a 4 lane highway from Paducah to Cape Girardeau, cutting transit time through the region and reducing wear on Highway 146. Of course, running the Parkway through the area means significantly disturbing the Cache River wetlands 

More on the Shawnee Parkway

Citizens for Southermost Illinois sent out this email with more info about the proposed Shawnee Parkway, which would replace the now dormant I 66 Corridor. Most of it is general but spending $4.5 million on a study just seems an abhorent waste of money:

Government Waste: $4.5 million dollars just to study a feasible route. In 2011, Cape Girardeau initiated receipt of a federal grant to study the purpose and need for a multi-lane highway primarily to serve the trucking industry between Cape Girardeau, MO and Paducah, KY.

Loss of Private and Public Land: Acquired through eminent domain, thousands of acres of farm and forest land, as well as private residences will be removed from the tax rolls. This will not only impact private and public land, but could result in restricted drainage and increase flooding.

Drain to Local Economy: Business and jobs continue to be lost in the area and the addition of another multi-lane highway will add to this exodus. Local businesses owners have indicated that the proposed highway will detrimentally impact their operation by taking potential customers away from the area.

Incompatibility with Tourism & Outdoor Recreation: The biologically rich and diverse environment of Southernmost Illinois has made it a destination with a reputation for high quality outdoor recreation experiences such as hunting, fishing, bird watching, canoeing, hiking, nature photography and much more. The environmental and aesthetic impacts of this proposed highway will have dire consequences for the natural resource and agri-tourism-based recreation and economy of the region.

I66 Corridor

According to this, the proposed I66 Corridor, running a 4 lane interstate across southern Illinois to connect Paducah and  Cape Girardeau smack through the Cache River wetland region, has been cancelled.

Of course, IDOT, never one to give up on a bad idea, witness the Marion interchange and widening of Highway 13 from Marion to Carbondale, has now come up with the Shawnee Parkway project.  Tell you what, before building anymore highways that only a few people really want, how about we get the rest of Illinois highways and bridges up to snuff. For example, you could start with a couple of the bridges along 127 between 146 and old 13.