By Adam Studzinski
BLOOMINGTON – Residents stand mostly against the long discussed potential eastside highway in Bloomington-Normal.
Officials recently completed an environmental impact study for the road. The project is being put on hold due to the fact population growth has not been as great as originally estimated.
Speaking at a public forum Wednesday night at Central Catholic High School, Darin Kaeb had concerns about who would police the possible four-lane freeway.
“State? McLean County? Bloomington-Normal? My concern about that is, currently all of those forces are not to where they’re overwhelmed, but not to where they’re like their forces to be,” he said.
Rick Percy said the road would bring more negatives than positives.
“What does the proposed highway bring us?” said Percy. “It would bring us lots of cars, noise and unwanted traffic not only to our homes, our retirees, our places of worship, but also take away some of the best farmland in the entire world.”
Project leader Jerald Payonk explained officials will revisit the project every two years to see if population growth has changed to show a need for the highway.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
