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Yay, bypass! Yay, bypass!
Friday, Jun 1, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller * Today…
* I didn’t know about the national corridor connection. It seemed pretty cool at first glance. From last October…
* Map…  * I couldn’t get Google Maps to use the national corridor’s route, so I went to the expressway’s Wikipedia page and entered in all the highway changes up to Quincy, which is on our western border. The search result (click here) shows it would take 5 hours and 54 minutes to drive it at 2:29 pm today. However, allow Google Maps to choose a Chicago to Quincy route and its fastest choice (click here) would take 5 hours and 2 minutes if you started at 2:29 pm. That’s a 52-minute difference. The new Macomb bypass will save drivers between 4 and 9 minutes. But it’ll still be much faster to use Google Map’s preferred route. Man, I killed way too much time on this post. I coulda just driven to Kansas City instead. (Headline explained here.)
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- Amalia - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:41 pm:
Ribs trip.
- Spliff - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:44 pm:
Another way to provide economic development to Macomb would have been to fully fund Higher Ed the last 3 years instead of trying to exterminate it.
- Former Downstater - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:45 pm:
You beat me to it, Spliff. Saving 4-9 minutes doesn’t matter much when there’s no one heading to work at WIU.
- Claud Peppers - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:46 pm:
Yay, Yay more roads to nowhere to maintain.
- Chris P. Bacon - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:49 pm:
Wow, 6 whole miles. We’re ready Amazon!
- Illinoised - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:51 pm:
I live in Macomb. This is touted as as a victory? All it does is allow motorists to “bypass” Macomb businesses.
The same road bypassed Roseville some years back and the result we decreased sales for downtown businesses.
- weqeohrf - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:52 pm:
Did anyone ask the Governor about the expected level of black contractor participation in the upcoming construction?
- A Jack - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:53 pm:
Your close out song could be “Kansas City” by Fats Donino.
- Whatever - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:53 pm:
Yay. If a ribbon is cut, and no one cares, does it count as an accomplishment?
- a drop in - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:55 pm:
But it’s a bypass. You have to build bypasses.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:57 pm:
a drop in - Well played.
- IllinoisBoi - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:03 pm:
Now people can move away from Macomb even faster.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:03 pm:
Takes 3.5 hours via this route to travel from Quincy to of. It takes 4.5 hours from Quincy to Chicago via this route. Should take right at 8 hours to travel if to Chicago via this route. Hope this is helpful. Signed a Quincy resident
- Homer Macomber - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:14 pm:
===Yay. If a ribbon is cut, and no one cares, does it count as an accomplishment?===
No, of course not. An accomplishment is breaking ground on a project that’s never built.
http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=8925
- Anonymous - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:15 pm:
336, 110, 336
Are those the Illinois TransUnion, Equifax and Experian credit scores?
- don the legend - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:15 pm:
Rich, The headline had me thinking the worse. I thought you were telling us you need bypass surgery. Never more glad my first thought was wrong.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:18 pm:
That’s pretty funny, don. lol
- Swift - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:28 pm:
Meh, I’m holding out for the Chicago to St. Louis monorail.
- Lucky Pierre - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:28 pm:
The fastest route from Chicago to KC is through Des Moines by about 15 minutes and there are way more gas stations.
If you take the route through Hannibal and Quincy better gas up there because gas stations are few and far between west of there
- Leatherneck - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:30 pm:
The real CKC highway as far as the truckers are concerned goes around Springfield instead (I-55 then 72). Maybe even some using Veterans Parkway too. Springfield traffic around the city is getting worse and worse by the day.
- Illinoised - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:32 pm:
Homer Macomber, you beat me to the punch. Excellent comment.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:35 pm:
Homer, PQ did that a lot. He was quite something.
- Old and In The Way - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:45 pm:
Actually this is just a half of a bypass. It’s only two lanes because they didn’t have the money to build the other two. Yes that’s right, it’s a two lane bypass and the other two are yet to even be started or funded. Bridges only half finished as well as exits and entrances. Probably ten years until there is a rea four lane bypass. I’m not a trucker but I suspect this is not what they would find either safer or more convienient in comparison to four lanes.
Why are they celebrating a job just half done
- Cubs in '16 - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:50 pm:
===Why are they celebrating a job just half done===
Because 50% of a bypass is still better than 25% of years in office “enacting” a budget?
- Former Downstater - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:56 pm:
Because this is winnin’ and doin’ and constructin’ and buildin’
- wordslinger - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:03 pm:
–Meh, I’m holding out for the Chicago to St. Louis monorail.–
Did you say monorail?
Still holds up after 25 years, this one by Conan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDOI0cq6GZM
- In Macomb - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:06 pm:
Just took it passed one truck and 9 cars the whole length a total waste . The road through town is fine . They need to do 3 lanes like Missouri there is not enough traffic to justify 4 lanes and expensive bypasses
- 47th Ward - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:06 pm:
===Did you say monorail?===
I hear those things are awfully loud.
- wordslinger - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:07 pm:
The Chicago-KC signs started popping up on the Ike a few years ago. Seems to be more of an additional signage job along existing routes, a marketing effort.
- Scamp640 - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:09 pm:
This bypass is not about Macomb. It is part of Tom Oakley’s “geopolitical strategy” to make Quincy the center of the universe — or in this case, the tri-state region of IL, IA, and MO.
Tom Oakley owns TV stations and has other financial interests in the Quincy Region. He supports bypassing Macomb and every other community to draw more traffic through Quincy. He has been working on this project for decades. Not coincidentally, he is pictured above holding the Governor’s hand.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:10 pm:
Cubs in16
Not sure what your point is. Rauner had nothing to do with this project. It was funded in 2009 as a part of a capital bill. The region simply didn’t have enough political clout or leverage to get the whole project funded. However at least they got half which is more than WIU got in the deal. The university was to get a much needed performing arts center and literally millions were spent in the planning and site preparation. The last I heard was that it had been moved to a lower priority. The half bypass would seem to be an indicaton of how much political and economic clout the region has.
- Old and In The Way - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:12 pm:
Scamp640
You sir are right on target.
- Old and In The Way - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:15 pm:
Oakley is one of those guys who always seems to be angling in Springfield. He sucked up to Blago and Quinn as well so he is at least a non partisan “opportunist”.
- Shemp - Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:16 pm:
There was already a C-KC route…. It is called I88-I80-I35. It’s faster. You take 2 exits the whole way. You have to slow to 65 at QC, Iowa City and Des Moines, but otherwise it is all 70-75 and no stops or other turns. But it was a great marketing job to get people to buy into this new route.
- Bill Edley - Monday, Jun 4, 18 @ 10:24 am:
Illinois taxpayers wasted nearly $500 million bucks building a limited access 4 lane highway from Macomb (about 20,000) to Quincy (about 40,000). The highway was way, way down the priority list for western Illinois and in NO WAY is part of a reasonable Chicago-to-Kansas City routing.
- Bill Edley - Monday, Jun 4, 18 @ 10:51 am:
A couple more thoughts … I represented (1989-1995) Macomb and western Illinois in the Illinois General Assembly. We had two four-lane connection priorities: 1) Building a four-lane highway from the Quad-Cities to St. Louis along the US 67 corridor; 2) Connecting western Illinois to Peoria and then Peoria to a more direct Chicago Routing.
During the 1980s, The Quincy Highway committee convinced Macomb and other western Illinois communities to support the “Central Illinois Expressway,” which is I-72 today. We were told that once this east-west connection was completed, that Quincy would support our north-south US 67 four-lane expansion. Instead, as soon as the CIE Quincy funding was in place around 1990, Quincy lobbied for $50 million to start building a Quincy to Macomb 4-lane. I represented much of this area, knew nothing about this funding until IDOT released its budget and I opposed the entire project. I was able to get the House to pass a $1 appropriation, replacing the $50 million.
To make a long story short, I won the 1992 election but lost in the 1994 GOP landslide and Quincy was then able to drive through over $400 million to fund their dreamed up CKC connection.
Today, western Illinois’ two lanes highways remain a mess and the very real major 4-lane connections to St. Louis and Peoria/Chicago are unfunded.