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Metro East population shift wears grooves in roads built for less traffic
By LORRAINE SENCI

   Residential and commercial growth in the Metro East is taking a toll on roads that were designed for lighter traffic. But recent improvements to key roads - plus plans for convenient connectors and new roads - will keep urban planning headed in the right direction.

   Drivers in Edwardsville recently found relief from congestion on Illinois Route 159 when the newly realigned state highway was opened to traffic after nearly 15 months of construction. The improvement is part of an overall project under way across Madison and St. Clair counties by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

   The project's scope: to widen Route 159 to five lanes southward from Edwardsville to Interstate 64 in Fairview Heights.

   Route 159 is considered the primary business corridor serving both Edwardsville and Glen Carbon. Those two communities are considered to be among the fastest growing in Southwestern Illinois.

   According to the 2002 annual report published by TheAlliance of Edwardsville and Glen Carbon, the combined population of both communities has grown to nearly 32,000 residents - evidence of a 42 percent increase between 1990 and 2000. The area is expected to continue to attract new residents, with an estimated combined population of nearly 37,600 by year 2010.

   "TheAlliance, on behalf of Madison County, recently secured a $135,000 planning grant from IDOT," said Mike Pierceall, the organization's executive director, "for the I-55 corridor transportation and growth management plan."

   The effort, which involves Edwardsville, Glen Carbon and Madison County, is geared toward developing a transportation and strategic growth plan for the area east of Route 159 extending to I-55 north of I-270. Rapid residential developments in the area are taxing the existing roadway network, and the communities see the plan as a means to help reduce future traffic congestion, minimize infrastructure cost to the taxpayers and maximize governmental revenue through an enhanced tax base.

   "We are looking at future land use and development of the infrastructure and what areas should be left as open space," Pierceall added. "Proper planning will protect the area from traditional urban sprawl."

   The planned Governors' Parkway - a 5 ½-mile, three-lane stretch that will extend from Route 157 near the entrance of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to Route 143 near the I-55 interchange - is expected to further stimulate the mixed-use development of the I-55 corridor, Pierceall said.

   "Governors' Parkway will be a major connector route to handle the eastern growth of Edwardsville-Glen Carbon," he said.

   Governors' Parkway was planned in the 1960s when the campus was originally laid out, but the project was shelved by the state in 1988 when Center Grove Road - which connects Routes 159 and 157 - was built in Edwardsville, according to Madison County Engineer Dave Dietzel. Demographics in that area have drastically changed since then.

   "That area has been exploding with residential and commercial growth, pushing eastward growth in the county," he said. "The eastern portion of Edwardsville to Troy to I-55 will all be residential in 10 years; there are subdivisions popping up there now."

   The entire Governors' Parkway project, which is estimated to cost $15 million, will cover four construction seasons, starting in the spring of 2004 and finishing in the fall of 2007. Madison County requested of federal leaders that this project qualify as high-priority status under the new transportation bill, TEA-21, Dietzel said; Madison County is hopeful it will get funding from the reauthorized bill.

   In St. Clair County, residential and commercial growth in O'Fallon and Shiloh are driving new road developments and improvements.

   Within the past two years, the St. Clair County Highway Department has completed Frank Scott Parkway. The new roadway provides a direct connection between Belleville and O'Fallon. At the same time, North Green Mount Road was reconstructed and a new interchange built on I-64. The total cost for all improvements associated with the completion of this new roadway and the I-64 interchange totaled more than $20 million.

   "The combination of these projects has really opened a large area for commercial and residential development," said St. Clair County Engineer Darrel Cates. "Subdivisions, commercial developments and apartment units are springing up all along this new highway." According to a recent report published by the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois, Shiloh issued 237 single-family housing permits and O'Fallon issued 180 permits in 2002.

   The 5.3-mile section of Frank Scott Parkway - constructed on a new alignment at a cost of $9.5 million - has provided motorists with an alternate road to travel east and west. The new roadway has reduced travel time from West Belleville to O'Fallon by 15 minutes or more, Cates said.

   St. Clair County is currently completing improvements to another portion of Frank Scott Parkway near the new Belleville Township High School campus to improve traffic flow in the area.

   The improvements consist of adding turning lanes, traffic signals and widening the existing bridge over Illinois 15 to provide a walkway for students to access the high school.

   "There was no walkway previously. This will make it safer for any students who wish to walk or ride a bicycle to school," Cates said. The total cost of this project is estimated to be $2.5 million and is expected to reach completion by the end of October.