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* Today…
Exciting day! Just cut the ribbon on the new Northwest Macomb Bypass. It brings much needed traffic relief, connects western Illinois to our national transportation system, opens a path to fresh economic opportunities. pic.twitter.com/dq7snOXP9E
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) June 1, 2018
* I didn’t know about the national corridor connection. It seemed pretty cool at first glance. From last October…
Construction on the six-mile, $36.1 million bypass began in June 2015… The bypass will open as a two-lane highway linking Ill. 336 west of Macomb to U.S. 67 on the north… Funds for the first two lanes of the bypass were approved in the Jobs Now capital bill that the Legislature approved in 2009. IDOT officials have pledged to complete the other two lanes on the bypass when construction dollars become available. […]
The bypass will be part of the 537-mile Chicago-Kansas City Expressway that has been marketed as a national corridor. The CKC, first proposed 60 years ago, has a common route designation number. Signs bearing the Route 110 and CKC logo are in place from downtown Chicago to downtown Kansas City, Mo. Route 110 avoids three of the most congested and overcrowded highway segments in the Midwest: Interstate 55 from Chicago to Joliet, I-80 from Joliet to the Kansas border, and I-70 from St. Louis to Kansas City.
* 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.)
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:36 pm
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Ribs trip.
Comment by Amalia Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:41 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.
Comment by Spliff Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:44 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.
Comment by Former Downstater Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:45 pm
Yay, Yay more roads to nowhere to maintain.
Comment by Claud Peppers Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:46 pm
Wow, 6 whole miles. We’re ready Amazon!
Comment by Chris P. Bacon Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:49 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.
Comment by Illinoised Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:51 pm
Did anyone ask the Governor about the expected level of black contractor participation in the upcoming construction?
Comment by weqeohrf Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:52 pm
Your close out song could be “Kansas City” by Fats Donino.
Comment by A Jack Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:53 pm
Yay. If a ribbon is cut, and no one cares, does it count as an accomplishment?
Comment by Whatever Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:53 pm
But it’s a bypass. You have to build bypasses.
Comment by a drop in Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:55 pm
a drop in - Well played.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 2:57 pm
Now people can move away from Macomb even faster.
Comment by IllinoisBoi 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
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:03 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
Comment by Homer Macomber Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:14 pm
336, 110, 336
Are those the Illinois TransUnion, Equifax and Experian credit scores?
Comment by Anonymous 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.
Comment by don the legend Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:15 pm
That’s pretty funny, don. lol
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:18 pm
Meh, I’m holding out for the Chicago to St. Louis monorail.
Comment by Swift 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
Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:28 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.
Comment by Leatherneck Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:30 pm
Homer Macomber, you beat me to the punch. Excellent comment.
Comment by Illinoised Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:32 pm
Homer, PQ did that a lot. He was quite something.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:35 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
Comment by Old and In The Way Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:45 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?
Comment by Cubs in '16 Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:50 pm
Because this is winnin’ and doin’ and constructin’ and buildin’
Comment by Former Downstater Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 3:56 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
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:03 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
Comment by In Macomb Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:06 pm
===Did you say monorail?===
I hear those things are awfully loud.
Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:06 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.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:07 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.
Comment by Scamp640 Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:09 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.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:10 pm
Scamp640
You sir are right on target.
Comment by Old and In The Way Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:12 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”.
Comment by Old and In The Way Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:15 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.
Comment by Shemp Friday, Jun 1, 18 @ 4:16 pm
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.
Comment by Bill Edley Monday, Jun 4, 18 @ 10:24 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.
Comment by Bill Edley Monday, Jun 4, 18 @ 10:51 am