U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill., announced today that a series of grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation had been awarded to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Two of the grants included:
- $235,000 for implementation of the Marketing Program for Historic Route 66, which includes 421 miles in Illinois from Chicago to Metro East St. Louis, roughly parallel to I-55.
- $25,000 for implementation of the Corridor Management Plan for Historic Route 66, which includes 421 miles in Illinois from Chicago to Metro East St. Louis, roughly parallel to I-55.
These two grants tie into the byways program, of which Illinois’ portion of Route 66 joined a few years ago.
For fans of other historic roads, there’s this:
- $212,000 for implementation of the Marketing and Awareness Initiative for the Historic National Road, which runs roughly parallel to Interstate 70 from East St. Louis, IL to Terre Haute, IN (Madison and St. Clair Counties).
This is talking about old U.S. 40, aka the National Road. It’s the granddaddy of all U.S. roads, as it was funded in the 1800s.
It’s good to see the National Road getting some love. It’s as well-signed in Illinois (and into Indiana) as Route 66, and the road (since much of it is also still US 40) is in better condition overall. While there aren’t as many restored landmarks, its a fun rural drives, and some of the smaller towns (especially Greenup) are a neat visit. It just needs more press.
It is great to see that some measures are being made to improve the infrastructure 10 years after the federal mandated Metro East Enterprise Community Infrastructure Study and Assessment was completed by Horner and Shifirn Planners, Architects and Engineers and Arlou, Incorporated and Stephanie Green subconsultants. The people should send thanks to our Congressman Jerry Costello for this project.