Leadership Council lays out priorities for multimodal projects
IBJ staff report
Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois has a long list of multimodal priorities that members say will positively alter the familiar landscape of Madison and St. Clair counties.
Air, highway, rail and water transport projects are all reflected in the report, discussed in detail during a recent Senate Transportation gathering in Belleville.
Several of the projects have already received funding and are simply being supported as a matter of importance. Others are still awaiting funding.
Now underway:
Poplar Street Bridge interchange and widening, an overall $60 million project to be completed in 2018. The interchange is being financed by Missouri, while the widening is being funded by both states.
– The Martin Luther King Bridge connector, $25 million, this spring
– The Interstate 64/Rieder Road interchange in St. Clair County, $40 million, this summer.
– Replacing the 51-year-old Interstate 270 Mississippi River Bridge with a new six-lane structure; $10 million in preliminary engineering now underway. Total price estimate of $160 million to $175 million
– Regional freight initiatives
IDOT Secretary Randy Blankenhorn called the Rieder Road interchange “a step toward developing that whole area” around Scott Air Force Base and MidAmerica Airport.
Congestion mitigation projects, all in planning but not funded, include:
– Widening of Interstate 270 from four to six lanes between Illinois Route 111 in Illinois to Lilac Avenue in St. Louis County. Estimated at $350 million to $400 million
– Supporting Merchants Bridge replacement
– The Falling Springs Road/Illinois Route 3 Railroad Bypass at Sauget, total project $22 million but with a $10.3 million funding shortfall.
– Interstate 255/Davis Street Ferry Road new interchange near Dupo, total project $35 million but with a $9 million shortfall
– Lenox Railroad Tower upgrade at Mitchell, including new switches, to increase freight and passenger speeds, $12 million to $15 million
System expansion projects include:
– Illinois Route 3 relocation from River Park Drive in East St. Louis south to Monsanto Avenue in
Sauget, $110 million to $150 million
– America’s Central Port, harbor lead track revitalization, $8 million to support Granite City Harbor
– America’s Center Port, $6.8 million for general cargo dock revitalization
– America’s Central Port, $4.5 million for new rail line
– Support IDOT’s 110 mph High-Speed rail corridor environmental study from Granite City to St. Louis
– Select the St. Louis to Chicago route for the 220 mph High Speed Rail Corridor
Several general projects are listed as priorities in Madison County, but still unfunded:
– Illinois Route 162/157 intersection reconstruction /new bridge/bridge replacement project, $17 million
– Godfrey roundabout at Illinois Route 3 and Delmar, $8.5 million
– Interstate 55/70 under Black Lane and Skyhook bridge replacement, multiple phases, approximately $12 million total
– Widening of U.S. 40 east of Formosa Road to Bethany Lane, to five lanes, $3.5 million for preliminary engineering
– Interstate 70 resurfacing from I55 to 2.5 miles east of I55/70/270 in Troy/Maryville/Collinsville, $10 million
Several general projects are listed as priorities in St. Clair County, but still unfunded:
– U.S. 50 resurfacing from Illinois Route 4 to west of Rieder Road, $1.4 million
– Illinois 177 resurfacing from east of Eidmann Road to Mine Road in Mascoutah, $2.5 million construction
– U.S. 50 resurfacing from Lebanon to Summerfield, $1.2 million
– Adding a lane to I-64 west of Greenmount Road to west of Illinois 158, $20 million
– Resurfacing Illinois 161 from Dutch Hollow Road to 159 in Belleville, $4.5 million
– Distribution improvements for the Norfolk Southern Railroad spur at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, $20 million for initial phase of total $45 million cost
– One mile of new two-lane roadway, extending Air Mobility Drive near Scott AFB, from Illinois 161 to Illinois 177, $11 million.
– Illinois 3 connector from 3 to Route 203, $85 for various components.