The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By David Grimes - Quill correspondent
ROSEVILLE - Completion of the last section of four-way road on U.S. 67 between Monmouth and Macomb, Ill., was celebrated early with a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday.
The 4 1/2 miles of road wrap around Roseville about a mile to the west of the city limits. The completion brings the state's highway network a bit closer together. U.S. 67 provides connection to Routes 116 and 94, as well as U.S. 34 and I-74 within the western Illinois corridor.
The event, held at the Roseville Elementary School, took place just one day short of the projected completion date of Nov. 1.
Halverson Construction and McCarthy Construction, from Springfield, Ill., and Bettendorf, respectively, completed the project at a cost of $17.8 million. The project's adjusted value Ñ that is including additional costs such as landscaping, striping, land acquisition and engineering Ñ was $19.8 million.
"It's been a task to continue economic development in this area," said Mike Kirby, Roseville
landscaping, striping, land acquisition and engineering Ñ was $19.8 million.
"It's been a task to continue economic development in this area," said Mike Kirby, Roseville school superintendent and mayor of the Warren County town. "We need it at this time more than ever and this completion will help."
Lane Evans, who was instrumental in securing $8.8 million in federal funding for the project, the Transportation Enhancement Act for the 21 Century, ensured that the spotlight did not focus solely on him by sharing credit with other state lawmakers, including Laura Kent Donahue, Don Moffitt, Carl Hawkinson and Rich Myers.
"This was not a partisan issue," Evans said. "I look forward to working with you again on other projects in the future," he added.
The balance for the project was provided through Gov. George Ryan's Illinois First program.
Construction of the wraparound began in March 2001.
The Roseville bypass is one of several highway projects throughout the state, including Route 336 between Quincy and Macomb and U.S. 34 between the Great River Bridge in Burlington and Monmouth.
"Now Western Illinois University will be more accessible to residents in all parts of the state," Moffitt said. "This marks the end to ÔForgottonia,' " Moffitt added, eluding to an often used nickname for west-central Illinois.
IDOT District 4 (Peoria) engineer Joe Crowe said Phase I work is near completion on the U.S. 34 project between Monmouth and Burlington, with the next two phases in the planning stages and ready to begin.
Approximately 250,000 square yards of modified soil was used to build the roadway's subgrade, and more than 155,000 tons of bituminous blacktop was used to surface it.
Quincy-to-Macomb Expressway completes
another section
Two new lanes of the Quincy-to-Macomb Expressway have been completed and Illinois 94 traffic has been diverted to those lanes this week. The eight-mile segment of Illinois 336 from one mile north of Illinois 94 to three miles south of Carthage was under construction since February of this year.
Northbound and southbound traffic will share the two new lanes as construction begins on two additional lanes that will eventually carry northbound traffic expected to be completed late fall of 2003.
When completed, Illinois 336 will provide a four-lane highway linking Macomb with Quincy and Interstate 172.