I-57 Interchange Workshop Termed \"Good

On june 8th, an I-57 Interchange Workshop and bus tour was held in Benton with 19 people in attendance. Representatives included the Mayor of Benton, EDC Executive Committee personnel, IDOT District 9 personnel, IDOT Central Office personnel, Federal Highway Administration personnel, HMG Engineers personnel and CBB Traffic Engineers personnel. The group session was termed a “good success” by everyone in attendance. A South Central Transport bus departed the EDC office parking lot at 10:00 a. m. and traveled around the Benton Public Square to West Main St to North Central St in West City. A brief stop was made in the Benton Industrial Park II before proceeding to the Benton Municipal Airport. From the airport, the tour continued to the south end of Rend Lake viewing construction at South Marcum Campground and the new Visitors Center at the west end of the Dam. The next stop was the bridge at I-57 and Petroff Rd, the site of the proposed interchange. We then continued east onto Illinois Ave to Industrial Park Rd to the Benton Elks Club. Before lunch, participants viewed numerous maps provided by Carrie Nelson of IDOT Distrist 9 that provided several different configurations for the proposed interchange. There were many good comments and suggestions from those in attendance. Chris Fraley, FHWA, suggested that project geometrics should be completed as the next step in the project. Everyone left the meeting with a feeling of success. The dialogue was positive and beneficial to the project throughout the tour. Our effort to create another access off Interstate 57 for the Benton/West City area began in January 2008. We have continued to achieve “real success” with this effort and are confident a concept design will be approved allowing us to proceed with the Access Justification Report before the end of the 2010. Many thanks go out to all participants as we are extremely exited to move this project forward.