The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Targets Public Participation
The Highway 34 Coalition decided to take its message to a higher level-a billboard located on US 34 near one of the highway's more dangerous intersections.
In honor of its fifteenth anniversary of advocating for better roads in west central Illinois and southeast Iowa, the group decided to continue to encourage more public awareness of the safety and economic impacts that the two-lane US Highway 34 imposes on a region that needs a four-lane transportation corridor.
Linda Utsinger, one of the Coalition founders and who served as Secretary-Treasurer for 10 years, states that the Highway 34 Coalition was started February 14, 1990, at a meeting at Meling's Restaurant in Monmouth, Illinois.
"Over 75 people from Illinois and Iowa traveled through blizzard conditions to attend. Improving US 34 was that important to them then and it still is today. Crossing the state lines and working together on a U.S. highway which united the two states gave the entire region a stronger voice in defining the needs for roads, " Utsinger said.
The Coalition was founded by Charlie McChesney, a long time advocate of the development of transportation as a priority for economic development in Illinois and Iowa.
The Coalition is a bi-state coalition of travelers, governments, and economic development groups, chambers of commerce, individuals and businesses.
The mission of the group is to advocate for the completion of US 34 as a four-lane expressway that will provide a safe and reliable transportation corridor and that will connect the region to the global economy.
Although the Coalition is currently focusing on getting the 23.6 miles of two-lane between Monmouth and the Carman Road in Illinois developed as a four-lane expressway, it advocates for improving US 34 from Kewanee to Ottumwa, IA.
The Coalition wants all major transportation corridors in Iowa and Illinois to be improved so that they become safer, more efficient routes that have improved sight distances, flatter horizontal curves, wide medians for safer turning, and two lanes for safer passing.
The need for developing US 34 started 38 years ago. During 1963-69, the Illinois Highway Study Commission prepared a highway needs and study plan for the state.
As part of that plan, several different corridor approvals were granted in the vicinity of US 34. In 1967 a corridor from Gulfport to southwest of Gladstone was approved and in 1970 a corridor from
Gladstone to Monmouth. However, it wasn't until 1997 that the US Department of Transportation-Federal Highway Administration allocated funding Safety is a major concern.
Proposed improvements are expected to reduce traffic accident rates in these areas by providing a safer, more efficient route between Monmouth and Gulfport.
According to Illinois Department of Transportation data, three high accident locations have been identified within the 23.6 miles two-lane road Highway 34 between Monmouth and the Carman Road.
Between January 1993 and December 2003, 793 accidents occurred on the two-lane US 34 between the Mississippi River and IL 164 east of Monmouth resulting in 384 injuries and 9 fatalities.
That's approximately 34 accidents for each mile of the remaining 23.6 miles of two-lane road.
Other data indicates that 41% of the two-lane route is marked as no-passing zones, that several curves have design speeds of 62 miles per hour or less, that much of US 34 from US 67 to Gulfport lacks adequate shoulders and clear zones, and that portions of this section do not meet current standards for horizontal alignment and that passing sight distance is limited.
Economic development is also another key factor in the Coalition's push to get the corridor completed.
US 34 is a key regional corridor for the east-west movement of people and goods in, and through, west central Illinois.
US 34 will be the major east-west corridor between Interstate 74 and the Avenue of the Saints (Interstate 218).
As the highways in the region improve, more traffic will be using US 34.
The percentage of truck traffic is expected to remain high since US 34 provides a major east-west transportation route for western Illinois. The existing large volume of truck traffic, which is now at 13-31% of the total traffic, is expected to increase.
One of the reasons is that the Great River Bridge/US 34 over the Mississippi River is the only four-lane bridge leading into a four-lane expressway for approximately 130 miles.
The nearest crossings of the Mississippi River via state highways are 46 miles north at Muscatine, IA and 17 miles south at Niota.
Both are two lane bridges. The nearest four-lane bridges are in the Quad Cities and at Hamilton,/Keokuk, IA.
Average daily traffic volume on US 34 ranges from 10,700 west of the Carman blacktop to a range of 3,800-9,600 along the corridor and at the US 67 Interchange.
Projected traffic volumes along the existing route are expected to range from 6,200 to 17,500 in the IDOT 2025 design year.
According to Terry Davis, who serves on the Board of Directors for the Big River Resources, an ethanol facility on US 34 just west of Burlington, IA. the Illinois and Iowa producers that bring corn to the plant add an estimated 17,000 trucks per month to the traffic count on US 34 since it began operations in West Burlington, IA. the fall of 2003.
Consolidation of the Union and Southern school districts in the fall as the West Central CUD will bring high and elementary school students from Southern in Stronghurst to the existing Union facility, which is located on US 34 just west of Biggsville. This means more traffic, especially teenage drivers, on US 34.
During the last month, Highway 34 Coalition members have taken the message to several communities via Chamber of Commerce meetings in Monmouth, Galesburg, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa and Burlington/West Burlington, IA.
Coalition members are available for additional speaking engagements. To schedule a presentation or for more information on the Highway 34 Coalition activities, contact one of the members or e-mail: coalition34@winco.net.