Development could erase loss of I-64
BY SCOTT WUERZ
News-Democrat
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City leaders believe they are finally on the verge of erasing a 40-year-old mistake.

In the 1960s, Belleville passed on plans to build Interstate 64 along the path of Illinois 15. The highway was built through farmers' fields to the north instead and the city of Fairview Heights was born.

Soon, St. Clair Square, which was planned to be built near the site of the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds in southern Belleville, followed the interstate to Fairview Heights, and one-by-one, Belleville's department stores left downtown for the newfangled shopping mall.

But a gigantic development called Richland is planned to straddle the proposed route of an "inner belt" highway through southern Belleville, and those developments could change everything.

"The proposed 158 inner belt is supposed to go right through the middle of this new development," Ward 1 Alderman Jerry Dinges said of Richland, which is planned to cover 1,600 acres that were annexed into Belleville over the last five years.

"You won't be able to recognize that area in five years. I think it is going to change the economic picture of the whole county."

As many as 4,000 homes are planned to be built in Richland over the next decade. A new community center, a golf course, a high-tech business area, a private school, several new parks and a community center are all part of the plans for an area that is becoming a housing hotbed.

The project is being privately financed by a group of investors led by Floyd Schlueter, who owns the majority of land in the proposed development.

The inner belt, which is basically an interstate connector that will link Interstate 255 in Columbia to Interstate 70 in Troy, will make it easy for the flood of Missourians who are looking for affordable suburban housing to commute to and from St. Louis.

Retail and commercial development and entertainment venues are sure to follow, city leaders believe.

"I think this is definitely a chance to replace what many people speculate we lost when Interstate 64 went through Fairview Heights," Mayor Mark Eckert said. "If the Gateway Connector comes through like we think it will, it's going to be a major area of activity there."

On Friday, the owners of two of the city's three remaining new car dealerships announced their manufacturers have given them permission to relocate to Illinois 15 near its intersection with Frank Scott Parkway West. On the same day, the city announced that the Illinois Department of Transportation approved plans for a new access road and intersection where the dealerships plan to open in the spring.

Rusty Wagner, of Wagner Buick-Pontiac-GMC, and Brad Joseph, of Oliver C. Joseph Chrysler-Dodge, said they were able to convince their corporate headquarters to allow them to stay in the city because they believe Belleville will be the new growth area in the future, after years of yielding to Fairview Heights and O'Fallon.

In recent years, a dozen other car dealers decided to leave, or were forced by their manufacturers, for greener pastures along I-64 in O'Fallon.

If I didn't believe in that area, I wouldn't be willing to invest millions of dollars there," Brad Joseph said of the Illinois 15 corridor where a new Belleville West High School now sit. "I really believe it's going to be something."

Geri Boyer, an engineer with the Swansea firm of Thouvenot, Wade and Moerchen, told city leaders last month when she was hired to study the site of the new car dealerships that she believes Illinois 15 will be a six-lane highway in 25 years and that Frank Scott Parkway will be four lanes wide by then.

Doug Smith, who works for the architectural firm HOK as the project manager of the Richland development, told city leaders that the area between Illinois 15, Illinois 159 and Frank Scott Parkway West has become known as the "Golden Triangle" among area developers because of its potential.

"With the new intersection and the car dealerships' approval from Detroit, we're getting a lot more nibbles from businesses that are interested in coming to Belleville," Eckert said.

"We've had more leads and inquiries than you could imagine in the last couple of weeks. There is no doubt in my mind that we are on the brink of a very large development on Illinois 15.

To some, it seems like the new highway is creating another new town, just like Interstate 64 did before it. But while the recently annexed land is a hot spot, Eckert said the older parts of Belleville aren't going to be left out.

"We have the new development out by Southwestern Illinois College with Lowe's," Eckert said. "There are several hot areas all around town like we have never had before. These things are going to be good for the whole city."