BELLEVILLE - As the area around Illinois 159 south of town continues to attract new residential developments, the road may have to be widened to accommodate additional vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
Cindy Stafford, a location studies engineer with the Illinois Department of Transportation, presented the results of a feasibility study on widening a five-mile stretch of Illinois 159 between Illinois 15 and Douglas Road at the city's Planning Commission meeting Wednesday.
Stafford described the study as a "what-if scenario" of how the highway might look if the agency widens it from two to four lanes.
"We want to try to give people what the roadway footprint might look like so that smart planning could be done," Stafford said. "The purpose of the study itself is a long-range planning tool ... to give them an idea of what the road would look like if and when we widened the lanes."
The agency recommends:
• Putting in sidewalks, curbs and gutters along the 1.7 miles from Illinois 15 to Mulligan Lane.
• Building a concrete median for 3.3 miles from Mulligan Lane to Douglas Road -- without sidewalks, curbs or gutters. This is the type of median that separates the lanes on Illinois 15 near the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.
Stafford said this $27 million plan would cost the least, would have the least impact on property fronting the highway, would accommodate pedestrians and could easily adapt to meet the needs of future development.
Stafford stressed that the study is preliminary and subject to change. Before it could be built, IDOT must conduct engineering and environmental impact studies, prepare contract plans and acquire land. But the agency has not included any widening work on Illinois 159 in its current six-year program for roadway projects.
IDOT projects that average daily traffic along Illinois 159 south of Illinois 15 will more than double from 23,700 vehicles now to nearly 50,000 by 2025.
Already, the Westhaven Meadows subdivision of 138 single-family homes is being built on the site of the former Westhaven Golf Course, and the Richland development that will include 4,500 housing units is building on nearly 2,000 acres.
Belleville asked the agency to prepare the feasibility study, which City Economic Development and Planning Director Mike Malloy described as an important tool for the City Council, planning and zoning commissions to keep in mind as developers propose building more housing along the busy corridor.
"It's a thinking document that's being placed within the city's lap that we need to think very seriously about," he said.
When built, the Gateway Connector will cross Illinois 159 half way between Douglas Road and Illinois 15, Malloy said. "Basically (it's) identifying somewhat the greater limits of Belleville and the development will follow it."
Evelyn Gauch said she came to the meeting with her husband Robert "because we live right on the highway and if they widen it anymore, our house is going to go."
The study didn't quell her worries though.
"We just hope that it takes longer than we think it will."