Avenue of the Saints (1956, 1991–2010) An
Avenue of the Saints (
St. Paul, Minnesota, to
St. Louis, Missouri) Expressway was proposed in 1955 during the formation of the
Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. That route would have followed
U.S. Route 61 from St. Paul through
La Crosse, Wisconsin, and
Dubuque, Iowa, to
Davenport, Iowa, and then following
U.S. Route 67 from Davenport through western Illinois crossing the new
Clark Bridge at Alton to St. Louis. This routing would have been along
U.S. Route 67, the major north–south arterial highway in the Western Illinois region. The Mississippi River barge companies raised political objections for a new federally funded competitor. This route was not selected in 1956. In the 1980s, this north–south arterial highway for an
Avenue of the Saints was revived by
Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, elected officials, led by Ernie Hayes, owner of a local insurance agency, with support from the state of Missouri, led by
Dick Gephardt, House majority leader in 1989. Future Iowa governor and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary
Tom Vilsack, mayor of Mt. Pleasant from 1987 to 1992, was a strong supporter. This highway proposal was included as Corridor 2 in the
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (Public Law 102–240; ISTEA, pronounced "Ice-Tea") as a high priority North-South NAFTA corridor. By the end of 1989, four possible routes for the Avenue of the Saints were under consideration by the
Federal Highway Administration. Two of the rejected routes would have followed
U.S. Route 52 and
U.S. Route 63 from St. Paul through
Rochester, Minnesota, to
Waterloo, Iowa. The other route rejected was the 1955 proposed route following
U.S. Route 67 through the heart of the
Forgottonia region. In 1990, the FHWA chose its route for the Avenue of the Saints: The Expressway would follow
Interstate 35 from St. Paul to a point south of
Clear Lake, Iowa;
U.S. Route 18 to
Charles City, Iowa;
U.S. Route 218 to
Cedar Falls, Iowa; Iowa Highway 58 and
U.S. Route 20 around Cedar Falls and
Waterloo, Iowa;
Interstate 380 from Waterloo through
Cedar Rapids to
Interstate 80 near
Coralville, Iowa, and
Iowa City, Iowa; U.S. 218 to
Donnellson, Iowa; Iowa Highway 394 and Route B to
Wayland, Missouri; and following U.S. 61 and
Interstate 64 from Wayland through Missouri, west of the Mississippi River, to St. Louis. The route exclusively serves Iowa and Missouri, using existing interstates in Minnesota and St. Louis area for routing to terminus "Saint" cities. This routing provides
Quincy, IL with access to the
Avenue of the Saints via a 10-mile segment of
U.S. Route 24 from Taylor, Missouri.
Amtrak service and expansion (1971–present) Denied access to the US Interstate highway network, the "
Illinois Service" initiative for Amtrak rail service was approved in 1971. It is partially funded by the
Illinois Department of Transportation. The
Illinois Zephyr began daily round-trip service from Chicago to Quincy in 1971, through the heart of the region. Amtrak's
Southwest Chief and
California Zephyr share trackage with the
Illinois Zephyr as far as Galesburg. The state of Missouri's "
Missouri Service" only funded the extension of the
Ann Rutledge to provide daily service between Kansas City and St. Louis with continuing services to Chicago via Springfield. The
Illinois Zephyr has become one of Amtrak's most successful routes, and is the longest continuously-operated state-supported route in the Amtrak network. As part of the
Midwest Regional Rail Initiative and Illinois's partnership with Amtrak an additional daily train service on this Chicago-Quincy line was added on October 30, 2006. This service expansion is part of the state sponsorship for increasing round-trip train service between Chicago and downstate cities from three daily to seven daily schedules. The new
Carl Sandburg train joined the existing
Illinois Zephyr to provide both a morning and evening train in each direction. Proposals have been considered to extend the two routes across the Mississippi River to Hannibal and/or St. Louis. In February 2009, Thomas C. Carper, mayor of Macomb from 1991 to 2003, was elected as chairman of
Amtrak's board of directors for a 4-year term, until February 2013. Mr. Carper rejoined Amtrak's board of directors on August 15, 2013, for a five-year term. During
fiscal year 2011, both the
Illinois Zephyr and
Carl Sandburg carried a combined 225,000 passengers, a 6.9% increase over FY2010. The two trains had a total revenue of
$5,580,227 in FY2011, a 10.6% increase over FY2010. The
Interstate 172 spur for Quincy access to the Expressway was completed in 1995. This provided some relief for the southern counties and enabled Interstate access to the cities of Quincy, Pittsfield and Jacksonville from Springfield, Central Illinois and Indiana. Two decades later, the Missouri Department of Transportation, as part of
NAFTA High Priority Corridor 61 – Missouri corridors, completed their Interstate 72 and
U.S. Route 36 Northern Missouri segment from Hannibal, MO through Cameron to St. Joseph, MO in August 2010. In coordination with Illinois DOT, the route from Cameron, MO to Hannibal, MO is marked as Chicago-Kansas City – Missouri Route 110.
Chicago-Kansas City Tollway (1989 studies) In 1989, the idea of a Chicago to Kansas City expressway was revisited. A tri-state economic and highway study was performed and found that a full, limited-access tollway running from the
Kansas Turnpike at Kansas City to the
Indiana Toll Road at
Gary or
Tri-State Tollway near the
Joliet area would cost $2 to $2.5 billion, if funded entirely by private investors. The study was useful in providing an expenditure number (1989 dollars) to Illinois and Missouri legislatures and public officials for building the highway. Missouri DOT's higher priority from 1989 to 2000 was completing their section of the
Avenue of the Saints and 2000 to 2010 for completing the Missouri portion of
Interstate 72. Illinois DOT was struggling in 1990s with funding to finish existing highway upgrade projects (
Interstate 39,
Interstate 172) from the 1980s.
Illinois Route 336 (2001–present) In 2009, the construction of
Illinois Route 336 from Quincy was extended from
Carthage to
Macomb partially built along with former
U. S. Route 136 alignment, on which it runs concurrently, and a new alignment bypassing
Tennessee and
Colchester to end temporarily west of
Macomb. This provides these communities (Quincy, Carthage, Macomb) with a southwestern connection (Kansas City and St. Joseph, MO) to
Interstate 72. A bypass around Macomb was under construction, with funding secured in 2014. It was eventually completed in 2018 but only opened one lane in each direction.
Cannon Ball Route / Illinois Route 110 (1917–1941; 2010) The Cannon Ball Trail Association, which was based in Leon, Iowa, marked the Missouri and Iowa portions of the route in 1912. The Chicago Auto Club marked the Illinois segment of the highway in 1913. By 1915, the route was considered "one of the best-marked highways between Quincy... and Chicago", and an extension from Quincy to the St. Louis – Kansas City highway at
Monroe City was posted. In 1917 the Illinois State Highway Department, a precursor to the modern-day
Illinois Department of Transportation, produced a Map of Marked Routes for the new automotive owner. The route from Hannibal, MO to Chicago, IL roughly paralleling the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, was marked as the
Cannon Ball Route. In a joint resolution between the Illinois
House and
Senate in late May 2010, an
expressway project connecting
Chicago-to-
Kansas City will be named
Illinois Route 110. The path, 532 miles in total, follows parts of the existing
Illinois Route 336,
Interstate 88,
Interstate 172,
Interstate 72,
Interstate 74,
U.S. Route 136,
U.S. Route 67, and connect the cities of
Quincy,
Macomb,
Galesburg, a number of communities of the
Chicago metropolitan area, including Chicago itself on
Interstate 290.
River bridges Since the 1970s, new Mississippi River highway bridges providing western access (Missouri, Iowa) to this region have been built:
Mark Twain Memorial Bridge at Hannibal,
Bayview Bridge at Quincy,
Keokuk-Hamilton Bridge at Keokuk-Hamilton, and the
Great River Bridge at Burlington. The
1928 Champ Clark Bridge at Louisiana, MO carrying U.S. Highway 54 was in poor condition and replaced by a new
Champ Clark Bridge in 2019. The railroads, serving the region,
Kansas City Southern Railway,
BNSF Railway, and
Norfolk Southern Railway have replaced, performed major upgrades, or demolished their Mississippi and Illinois river bridges (
Keithsburg Rail Bridge). Some of these railroad bridges require further upgrades, based on the increasing transcontinental rail traffic. However, the Illinois River highway bridges providing eastern access to central Illinois, especially at Hardin, Florence, Meredosia, Beardstown, Havana, Lacon, and Henry are over 50 years old. While Illinois DOT has performed major maintenance on these structures, they are not currently funded for replacement. The first bridge to be replaced, as funds become available, is the Florence drawbridge on Illinois 100/106, formerly US 36 and 54. A replacement highway bridge at Meredosia was completed in 2018. The next planned bridge replacement is for US 67 at Beardstown. This is planned for the eventual upgrade of US 67 to an expressway (four lanes) north from Chaplin, IL.
U.S. Route 67 in Illinois In 1990,
U.S. Route 67 in Missouri was designated as
NAFTA Corridor 61, but north of St. Louis
U.S. Route 67 in Illinois, through the heart of this region, does not carry this NAFTA priority designation. Portions of
U. S. Route 67 in Illinois north of Macomb were upgraded to a four lane expressway with bypasses around
Monmouth and
Roseville. It is four-lane but with many
at-grade intersections and a few
signals. A bypass around
Jacksonville has been completed which extends from near
Chapin to the north to near
Roodhouse to the south. Except for the
expressway near Jacksonville, no other sections from
Macomb extending south to
Jerseyville have been completed. The four-lane divided highway starts again south of Jerseyville, and intersects with Illinois 255 in Godfrey. A bypass consisting of a four-lane expressway and interchange near Jerseyville is under construction by Oates Associates with funding by IDOT.
U.S. Route 34 to Burlington Since 1993, the Illinois portion of U.S. Route 34 has been incomplete between the new
Great River Bridge at
Gulfport, Illinois, to the eastern edge of
Monmouth, Illinois. If and when the 4-lane to Monmouth is complete, U.S. Route 34 would merge with U.S. Route 67 at the south western edge of Monmouth and a new limited access bypass south and southeast of Monmouth connecting with the existing 4-lane U.S. Route 34 and continuing east to Galesburg. The
Great River Bridge at Burlington was completed and open to traffic on October 4, 1993. The Iowa Department of Transportation completed the
Des Moines to
Burlington "Super-4" expressway project,
Iowa Highway 163, on November 18, 2008. This expressway intersects the
Avenue of the Saints at
Mt. Pleasant. By 2020, U.S. Route 34 across southern Iowa between
Ottumwa, Iowa, and
Plattsmouth, Nebraska, is planned for
Super-2 upgrades with a new bridge across the Missouri River bridge to Nebraska as part of these upgrades. Nebraska is studying an upgrade of their U.S. Route 34 section between Plattsmouth and
Interstate 80, near
Lincoln, Nebraska.
Macomb to Peoria Expressway By 2003, the Macomb to Peoria Expressway, through the former coal mining regions of
Fulton County was planned and routes proposed, but is not currently funded (DOT Job No. P94-025-00 URS Job No. 25364560; July 7, 2003). Hence, Peoria and Fulton Counties have no direct (short distance) highway route to Hannibal/Quincy or NAFTA trade routes to southwestern USA and Mexico. There are Fulton county opponents for improved highway access. The interchange (Exit 3) at
Interstate 474 for this expressway segment was completed in the late 1970s. Currently, it is a partial cloverleaf to a short spur to the west that ends on Maxwell Road leading one mile south to Illinois 116.
Peoria to Chicago Highway Peoria, Illinois, at the eastern edge of the region, failed in the 1990s to gain central Illinois support for completing the
Peoria-to-Chicago Highway, which was the eastern segment for the original 1955 routing of the
Chicago–Kansas City Expressway. This highway segment upgrade is tabled indefinitely (low priority). Peoria was bypassed in the 2010
Chicago–Kansas City Expressway / Illinois Route 110 alignment by the Illinois legislature. ==Culture==