How can I keep informed on the study’s progress?

The best way to keep updated is to continue to check the East Side Highway website at www.eastsidehighway.com. The website will continue to evolve, and updates will become more frequent as the CSS process moves along as it will become important to provide up-to-date information to stakeholders. Additionally, the East Side Highway comment line (217-373-8901) will provide information on upcoming meetings.

 

How frequent will public meetings be?

The public meetings will accelerate as the project moves forward, particularly when we get into the corridor alternatives analysis. A portion of these meetings, however, will involve only members of the project study group and the citizen’s advisory group. The citizen’s advisory group is comprised of representatives of various stakeholder groups.

 

How much input and influence will the general public have on the study process?

Public or stakeholder input is essential to the CSS process; community context cannot be identified without it. From this context we will develop a project purpose. This project purpose will be the foundation upon which the corridor alternatives will be tested. Without stakeholder involvement, we would essentially be “guessing” at community context a drawing a project purpose from our guess.

 

Can a highway be located in a rich environmental area (i.e., creeks, woods, wetlands, endangered species, etc.)?

Every effort will be made to avoid sensitive environmental areas.  If an area cannot be avoided, we will attempt to minimize the impact to the area.

 

How will the study address impacts to the environment and existing farmland from proposed transportation improvements?

All transportation improvements must be thoroughly studied for their impact on the environment.  This analysis will follow the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process.  An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be performed later in the Phase I Engineering process.

 

How much thought has been given to alternative transportation?      

The screening stages of alternative corridors will address alternative transportation and its impact on meeting the objectives of the project purpose.

 

How will increasing fuel costs impact the planning process for transportation?

There is no precedent for this assumption and it would be speculative to assume that increasing fuel costs would impact the planning process.  so we would not know how this could impact the process. The impacts of rising fuel costs could force fewer vehicles on the roadway system. They could also force commuters from large metropolitan areas like Chicago to move to smaller communities offering similar type employment like McLean or Champaign Counties. In short, there is no model out there that identifies planning assumptions to make based on rising fuel costs.

 

Is there the flexibility in this study to look at alternative land use plans in order to model alternative forecasts and needs, or is this all predicated on following existing County plans for growth?

The study will follow the land use plans contained within the McLean County Comprehensive Plan. The plan has been adopted by McLean County, the City of Bloomington and the Town of Normal.

 

What funding sources would a bypass depend upon and what effect does that have on type of highway (lanes, open/closed access, etc.)

The final cost of such a facility is unknown at this time since the type or roadway and the location has not yet been determined. That being said, if an East Side Highway is constructed, it’s costs will be of a magnitude that would require Federal participation as local funds would be inadequate. Cost will not have an impact upon the type of facility that is eventually developed.

 

Have you taken into account the oil pipeline stopping all growth to the east and then not needing a bypass?

The assumption has been made that the future Enbridge pipeline will not stop growth to the east but it will be looked at when we consider utility impacts to and East Side Highway corridor location. The pipeline alignment is tentatively located north/south around 2150 East throughout much of the project study area.

 

I attended the first five meetings and want to stay involved.  How do I find out what is going on at the Citizen’s Advisory Group Meetings?

Within this newsletter you will find a document identifying representatives (and alternate representatives) for the various Advisory Groups. Contact an Advisory Group representative for information on the latest Citizen’s Advisory Group Meeting.  When contacting CAG group members please   remember that they are volunteer citizen’s from your community and treat them with respect.

 

Is a No-Build alternative still being considered by the Citizen’s Advisory Group? 

The No-Build alternative must be investigated as part of the alternatives analysis. It will be reviewed along with all recommended alternative corridors and tested for it’s adherence to the Project Purpose.

 

When will information be presented to all stakeholders again at a public meeting? 

After the development of preliminary corridors, we will be presenting this information to the stakeholders in February. There is a considerable amount of engineering work to be done to screen the alternates. The project team is taking the preliminary corridors developed by the Citizen’s Advisory Group and is working at refining them. When this is done, the corridors will be presented to the Project Study Group and the Citizen’s Advisory Group for their consensus. Should we receive consensus, we will be ready to present the corridors to the stakeholders.  

 

Where can I find more information on Context Sensitive Solutions?

The Context Sensitive Solutions Policy for Illinois can be found in the IDOT Bureau of Design and Environment Manual (Chapter 19 available on the IDOT website  at www.dot.state.il.us/desenv/bdemanual.html).

 

What agencies are represented on the Steering Committee?

The Steering Committee consists of representatives from McLean County, the Town of Normal, the City of Bloomington, McLean County Regional Planning, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

 

How do we know that all of the public’s input will be taken into consideration in the final determination?

A significant amount of information has been gathered from the public through the six public information meetings, three Citizen Advisory Group (CAG) meetings, and the correspondence received by the project team through mail, e-mail and phone calls. While we attempt to consider all of the public’s input (and we apologize if we cannot get back to everyone individually), some suggestions or issues have risen to the top through both public correspondence and the recommendations of the Citizens Advisory Group. These suggestions are: 1) try to use existing roadway corridors where feasible, 2) try to minimize diagonal corridor alignments as these tend to sever agricultural properties, and 3) it would be preferred that if the purpose and need of the project can be met with a facility that is not an interstate highway, then an interstate highway would not be proposed.

 

Is the project funded for construction?

Currently, the project is not funded for construction.

 

Will there be a traffic model for improving east-west streets only?

The scope of the project addresses the study of infrastructure to support growth on the east side. An important component of this is access to both I-55 and I-74. While we will certainly consider improvements to east-west streets within the project study area, looking only at east-west roads would not address how the growth accesses the Interstate system.  With or without an east side highway, volume will continue to increase through Towanda and Downs, rendering the existing two-lane streets through these communities grossly substandard in handling projected volumes. This would result in an unsafe condition. Access to I-74 and I-55 potentially relieves this congestion in these two communities.

 

If you build it, will Towanda-Barnes still become congested anyway?

All roads and streets will experience traffic growth over time. We attempt to model what the traffic growth will be in year 2035 based upon the adopted land use plan for that year. We are currently looking at growth on Towanda-Barnes Road and other roads and streets within the project study area based upon the various corridors being considered for an east side highway.

 

A road will induce sprawl.  If you build it they will come.  A new road will not relieve congestion on Veteran’s Parkway or Towanda-Barnes.

To a certain extent, this statement is true. New roads influence the timing of growth and land use independent of a land use plan. That cannot be avoided. While a new north/south roadway on the east side may not solve all of the traffic problems, including congestion on Veterans Parkway and Towanda-Barnes Road, caused by growth of the Bloomington-Normal community, planning for new infrastructure can help improve mobility when the growth does occur. 

 

Why wasn’t 2100 E considered over 2150 E, considering it has more miles of existing roadway?

This was a decision made by the CAG. Corridor options were developed for both 2100 and 2150. Considering 2100’s proximity to the existing Grove subdivision and 2150’s alignment proximity with the proposed Enbridge pipeline alignment, a decision was made to study the proposed 2150 alignment.                       

 

The original preferred alignment was on 2000 E.  Why did it move to the location shown on the meeting exhibits (1950 E)?

The location shown on the preliminary corridor alternatives map closely represents the recommended alternative from the original feasibility study. A map of the original  recommended alternative (Corridor “C”) can be found at the McLean County Regional Planning’s web page on the 2002 Feasibility Study link. The location of the that alignment may have undergone adjustments or refinements during the previous study.

 

Why not consider Lexington-Leroy Road?

The Lexington-Leroy Road was not considered based on location. This road is located two miles east of the project study limits (2400 E). An objective of the study as defined by the project purpose is to accommodate growth and address mobility needs of this growth. The 2035 land use plan does not exhibit planned growth that far to the east. With the windmill farms between 2400 and 2600 (and beyond), it is not likely that this area will serve any land use other than agriculture in the foreseeable future. That being said, a Lexington-Leroy alternative would serve primarily as a bypass for interstate users and would have little benefit for the Bloomington/Normal east side.

Is the No-Build still in play?  How does it fit in the whole process?

The No-Build must be tested against all the corridor options that will be studied. We will look at each corridor and test it in terms of meeting the needs of the project purpose. The No-Build is also tested.

Frequently Asked Questions