Fiction vs. Fact: Economic Development/Jobs

Highway proponents claim that a four-lane highway between Peoria and Macomb is critical to economic development and reduction of unemployment in the Western Illinois region. The spring, 2000 Highway 336 Coalition Newsletter identifies lack of “a modern four-lane highway…as the greatest cause of stagnant to declining populations and economies…and for the area having one of the highest unemployment rates in the state of Illinois.” The spring 2004 Newsletter leads with the headline, ”Jobs, Jobs, and More Jobs Will Be Created By 336”. Mark Johann, head of the Illinois 336 Coalition, said, when interviewed by the Peoria Journal Star (Feb 20, 2005), “The Fulton County unemployment rate…is…month in and month out the highest in the state of Illinois.” Statements such as the above are a mixture of factual error misleading hype.
         
Looking at the recent past, Fulton County unemployment has averaged 8 percent (2003), 7 percent (2004), and 5.6 percent (2005). The trend is clear: Fulton County’s employment statistics have been improving steadily since 2003, without benefit of a four-lane highway. Since January 2005, Fulton County’s unemployment rate has been equal to or lower than the state rate six out of eleven months, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Statistics. Currently, twenty-six Illinois counties have higher unemployment rates than Fulton County does. Five additional counties have the same rate. Even more at odds with the “unemployment poormouthing” of highway proponents are employment statistics from McDonough County, which has had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state for years. Currently, only five of the one hundred two Illinois counties have lower unemployment rates than McDonough County.
         
Claims that lack of four-lane highways causes unemployment are not supported by facts. Seventeen Illinois counties containing four-lane highways have unemployment rates higher than that of Fulton County. Five more counties blessed with four-lane highways have equal unemployment. Equally interesting is the fact that of the twenty-five other counties without four-lane highways, sixteen have unemployment rates lower than that of Fulton County. The cause-effect link between four-lane highways and unemployment appears to be weak or nonexistent.
         
What about the claim that four-lane highways cause economic development? When asked about this, I.D.O.T. officials had this to say: “Some studies found positive long-term economic benefits, while others did not.” Continuing, I.D.O.T. said, “…a general study of large infrastructure spending in other rural areas found that the new highway simply caused the relocation of economic activity between industries – some industries grew at the expense of others.”
         
When asked if any studies attempting to predict the probable economic effects of a Peoria to Macomb freeway had been done, I.D.O.T. officials responded bluntly: “No”. With university researchers readily available at each end of the proposed highway, one must wonder why highway proponents have not sought expert help in their efforts to prove that a Peoria to
Macomb freeway would work economic miracles.

The simple truth is that a positive cause-effect relationship between highway construction and long-term employment gains and economic development is not well supported by research or by state employment statistics.

Safety

Transportation Necessity

Social and Environmental Costs

Fact Versus Fiction