Gov. Blagojevich breaks ground on West Central
Illinois Highway - moving vital construction project
forward
Illinois 336 to bring new
economic development to region and improve quality of
life for area residents
CARTHAGE—Governor Rod Blagojevich joined state
and local officials to officially break ground and begin
construction on an important new segment of Illinois
336. Illinois 336, a four-lane highway that will connect
Quincy and Macomb, is a major transportation initiative
that will spur economic development in West Central
Illinois, a largely rural area of our state. Responding
to the overwhelming demand for extending this project
even further east, Governor Blagojevich announced
earlier this year his support for building an Illinois
336 western bypass around Macomb, which will eventually
connect Illinois 336 to US 67, through his Opportunity
Returns plan for the West Central region. Preliminary
engineering is also underway for Illinois 336 from
Macomb to Peoria.
“By connecting Quincy to Macomb, by connecting
Illinois 336 and US 67, we are connecting Western
Illinois with Central Illinois. Today, we reach a
crucial milestone because when we finish this portion of
336, we will be more than halfway done. This is a
crucial step to completing a major infrastructure
project for this part of our state that will pay
tremendous economic dividends. It will assure that
people from all over can get here and find out what a
great place this is to visit, to work, to build and to
live,” said Gov. Blagojevich.
"I want to thank Governor Blagojevich for moving
forward with this important project. When I've spoken
with him, I’ve stressed just how important IL 336 is for
the people of west central Illinois and he's listened,”
said Sen. John Sullivan (D-Quincy). “We need to continue
working in Springfield to make sure this gets done, to
grow our economy and bring more jobs to the area."
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)
began construction on this latest $20 million section of
Illinois 336, including the Carthage interchange,
earlier this month. It includes 5.3 miles of grading and
paving of four lanes of traffic from 3 miles south to 2
miles east of Carthage. Earthwork on the interchange has
begun just east of Carthage and will continue into early
winter as weather permits. The entire 5-mile section is
expected to be complete by November 2006.
The Fiscal Year 2005 budget includes the $20 million
for the work near Carthage and $1.7 million in
additional funding for continuing engineering and
associated land purchases. $130 million is programmed in
the IDOT Multi-Year Highway Improvement program to build
the remaining 25.2 miles of Illinois 336 from Carthage
to Macomb. IDOT has already completed construction on
21.3 miles of four-lane highway from near Quincy at US
24 to just south of Carthage.
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