Local: IDOT screws Peoria
You know, every once in a while, I’d like to at least be able to pretend that the the City of Peoria is being served by the state agencies into which city residents pay their taxes, Instead, all I see are reminders that we are the servants, and the state is our master:
The City Council is scheduled to vote tonight on whether it wants to spend $54,328 for the firm to study the corridor. The company was selected by the Illinois Department of Transportation to do the study. The state is set to pay $325,454 for it.
According to city information, “the work in the section between I-74 and I-474 will be limited to Washington Street and will not include any plans for Adams and Jefferson streets.“
Eric Therkildsen, an engineer with IDOT, said Friday what is being approved tonight is “what the budget†for the project can handle. He said there are things that are part of the overall study of traffic through Downtown Peoria that are not included within this study.
In January, the City Council endorsed its staff members’ recommendations to focus on an area between I-74 and Krause Avenue. Their priorities, at the time, included a feasibility study of converting Adams and Jefferson to two-way streets from I-74 to Krause; alternatives for lane configurations, parking, access, pedestrian and bike accommodations and aesthetics from I-74 to Krause; an analysis of truck traffic; and preparation of a public involvement document.
Those things, and more, plan to be analyzed only on Washington Street where the state opposes any on-street parking. The state, however, could be supportive of an adjacent parking lane along Washington, and that possibility will be included in Burke’s feasibility study.
An other words, the all-powerful Illinois Department is saying ‘no’ — in advance of any study — to what the city government, consultants and the voters want to make Peoria more pedestrian friendly. Our masters in Springfield have determined that downtown Peoria exists only as a place to accomodate fast-moving traffic.
I’d complain about the general uselessness of our elected legislators, but I learned 20 years ago that Illinois legislators cower in fear of IDOT. Not that the Peoria City Council will behave with more courage. No doubt they will vote to take the table scraps that IDOT offer, like good little lapdogs.
