Illinois Department of Transportation officials began collecting public information about a new interstate in southern Illinois at Shawnee Community College on Wednesday.
Interstate 66 would connect Interstate 55 in Missouri to Interstate 24 near Paducah. IDOT program development engineer Carrie Nelson says the first step is to develop a purpose for the project, and determine the area's transportation needs: "Once we know what our purpose and need will be, we can develop alternates and evaluate them against the purpose and need and we can calculate how many acres of wetlands, how many acres of farmland will be impacted, how many people will be displaced. We'll have a traffic model. What will be the traffic through the corridor. What will be the cost."
That cost could run between 300 and 500 million dollars. The project is still in its infancy; Nelson says it could take 10 to 15 years to complete.
Terry Treacy is opposed to the project. She says the price tag is too high and the interstate would disturb the area's unique natural areas: "If they go right through the middle of the proposed circle, it's the Cache Valley, the Cache wetlands. It's wetlands of international significance. It's backwoods. It's where people come to hunt and fish and hike and bird watch. People don't want an interstate highway ruining that for them." Treacy and other opponents have formed a group called Citizens For Southernmost Illinois to oppose the Interstate 66 project.
