The Peoria to Macomb Expressway:  Billion Dollar Boondoggle

The Highway – Way back in a different economic era (1969) the Illinois State Legislature authorized the construction of a limited-access four-lane highway from Quincy, Illinois to Peoria, Illinois. Justification for the highway was vague; not much more specific than, “We are building more highways so we will have more highways”. This authorization occurred before NAFTA, WTO, Earth Day and the modern environmental movement, and before the beginning of what could be called the “de-industrialization of America”. Changes in the country’s economic, environmental, and social outlooks have reduced the necessity for four-lane highways in many parts of the country, including Western Illinois. Concerns for protection of the environment have increased, and citizens have a better understanding of the environmental degradation that inevitably accompanies new highway construction. In addition, conservative/libertarian political theorists have advanced the idea that individual property rights must not be limited or “taken” by the government except under conditions of real necessity.

Why? -- The principal proponents for construction of Illinois 336 from Peoria to Macomb are elected officials, business interests that stand to profit from the highway’s construction, and people in the highway construction business. Stated reasons for the highway’s construction vary from misinformed (economic development will inevitably follow four-lane construction) to misguided (economic development benefits everyone) to deceptive (highways in Western Illinois are crumbling and unsafe; Western Illinois is in dire economic straits) to avaricious (someone else will have to pay for our highway). Pro-highway arguments fail on many grounds: Studies have shown that there is no clear cause-effect relationship between four-lane construction and economic development. What appears to be “development” is usually relocation of economic activity from one place to another. Western Illinois does not have severe economic problems or terribly high unemployment. Western Illinois highways are not unsafe or in bad repair. A disinterested viewer will see construction of Illinois 336 for what it is: Special interests making a grab for public assets that are badly needed for other purposes.

Why not? – Illinois 336 (Peoria to Macomb) would convert two to three thousand acres of prime Illinois farmlands and forests into highway and associated right-of-way. Much of this destruction would impair the nationally admired scenic beauty surrounding the Spoon River. Erosion and siltation of streams and rivers would increase. More than a hundred homes would be destroyed, and many others would be degraded due to highway construction. Farm operations would be made more difficult. Urban sprawl would be accelerated. No economic studies have been done to predict the effects of the highway, if constructed. Expense would be brutal: at least a billion dollars, at a time when both state and federal governments are bankrupt.  In short, The highway is not needed. It would be environmentally and socially destructive. Its construction would provide a textbook example of political pork.