Keep up search for bypass plan

Though the Illinois Department of Transportation had already announced its intentions to “take a couple steps back” in the process of determining a route for a U.S. Route 51 bypass around Vandalia, a meeting last Wednesday with more than 125 northside residents gave the engineers a clear sense of the local concerns about the proposed bypass route.
 It was, as state Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) described it, evidence that “democracy works.”
The meeting was organized by residents to familiarize state and federal political representatives with the situation. Though only McCarter showed up for the meeting, the other three – state Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Greenville), U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Collinsville) and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Springfield) – had representatives at the meeting.
Residents from several neighborhoods impacted by the IDOT route expressed their concerns about the environmental, financial and quality-of-life damage that would result from the proposed route. Vandalia mayor Rick Gottman and county board chairman Steve Knebel also registered their concerns about the IDOT route.
Others proposed alternatives, such as using portions of Interstate 70 for either an east or west bypass. Putting bypass lanes adjacent to I-70 was suggested as an option to taking out neighborhoods.
Now that our political representatives and IDOT officials are aware of the depth of our concerns, it’s time to restart the process. Two weeks ago, three representatives of the northside neighborhoods were picked by their peers to serve on IDOT’s community advisory group. They will join about 20 others on the CAG, a group that gives IDOT local feedback on the U.S. Route 51 four-laning project. Those meetings resumed this Wednesday.
It’s good to see the numbers of residents that have become active in this process. We need such involvement to make certain that the route selected for the bypass is the best one for our community.
With IDOT planning meetings of the community advisory group every two weeks, it won’t take long to get back to the point of choosing a route for the bypass. As that decision is made, we must not allow IDOT to forget the roomful of citizens that assembled last week.
There are better alternatives that don’t involve bulldozing neighborhoods or destroying the quality of life for residents. We must do the work to find them, and we must not settle for anything less.
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