Illinois will add two lanes to East Cape highway

A $1.5 million federal transportation grant -- expected to boost economic development in Alexander County -- will be used to widen Highway 146 to four lanes from East Cape Girardeau, Ill., to the intersection with Highway 3.

The Department of Transportation grant is part of a federal program that supports transportation infrastructure and economic development in the eight-state region covered by the Delta Regional Authority. In addition to Illinois, Missouri will receive a $3 million grant to widen Highway 67 to four lanes near Poplar Bluff in Butler County.

Approximately 8,700 motorists travel west on Highway 146 daily, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. The Illinois highway connects to Cape Girardeau by way of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, which opened in December 2003.

James Riggins, a senior traffic technician for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said the average daily traffic counts have increased by about 330 vehicles since the bridge opened.

According to the most recent MoDOT traffic study, compiled in 2004, the average daily traffic count was 10,931 motorists. In 2000, more than 10,560 vehicles traveled across the old bridge per day.

The Department of Transportation is providing more than $24 million in grants to the eight states. In addition to Illinois and Missouri, states receiving grants are Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

The highway, transit and safety law signed by President Bush in August provides an additional $40 million for transportation projects in the Delta region. It also provides $1 million to the Delta Regional Authority for a study of transportation needs and priorities. The authority is a federal-state partnership established to further economic development.

Stephanie Roth, a spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation, said the Illinois Department of Transportation has received the grant but has yet to set a timetable for the widening project.

Calls to the department's District 9 office in Carbondale, Ill., were not returned on Thursday.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

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