New Web site tracks highway progress
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<p align="justify">A Web site to track the construction and funding progress of U.S. Route 67 was announced Tuesday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
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<p align="justify">The Web site http://www.dot.state.il.us/us67/index.html is part of a push for passage of a capital plan for the state. It is maintained by the Illinois Department of Transportation and contains updates and background information on the stretch.
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<p align="justify">The pending $25.4 billion Illinois Works capital bill slates $92.7 million for work in the Route 67 corridor. Funding includes $50.7 million for phase 2 engineering for contract plans, land acquisition, utility adjustments and construction of a bridge and new interchange for the Macomb bypass.
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<p align="justify">Also included is $6.5 million for phase 2 engineering from just north of Illinois Route 101, including the Rushville bypass. The balance of the money, $35.5 million, is for work including 6.4 miles of reconstruction and additional lanes from 2.2 miles east of Illinois Route 100 to just east of the Concord/Arenzville Road.
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<p align="justify">State officials said more than $724 million in work has been done in the corridor so far, with over $150 million more scheduled during the 2008-2013 fiscal years. The unfunded pricetag to finish the four-lane sections from Macomb to the Alton Bypass is more than $1.5 billion.
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<p align="justify">Bruce Biagini, chairman of the Macomb Area Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Development Corporation's transportation committee, said Tuesday the Web site is a step in the right direction towards the road's completion.
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<p align="justify">"It's a great way to monitor the progress of the road," he said. "I'm going to encourage the chamber to distribute it to all its members."
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Biagini said the transportation committee is strongly behind a capital bill for the state to bring additional money for road work and other projects.
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<p align="justify">"It would provide needed infrastructure improvements statewide," he said. "It also provides significant funding for Western Illinois University's Macomb and Quad Cities campuses."
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<p align="justify">Illinois Works has been passed by the Senate.
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<p align="justify">"U.S. 67 is just one of countless projects in the Illinois Works program, and I urge House members to return to Springfield and approve the plan," Blagojevich in a news release about the Web site.
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<p align="center">Reach Journal Star reporter Jodi Pospeschil at (309) 686-3041 or state@pjstar.com.
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