Avenue of the Saints: Highway to Hope

July 26, 2008

By Doug Wilson

Cities along the Avenue of the Saints all have their own success stories.

Transportation leaders cut a ribbon about 10:30 a.m. Friday, opening four-lane traffic on the final nine miles of what is now the 526-mile Avenue of the Saints between St. Louis and St. Paul, Minn. Many of the program speakers then took a seven-city whistle stop tour to share their story.

"Obviously, we were the last to be able to celebrate a safer highway," said Pat Meldrum of Canton.

Part of the story from the Canton area involved the SMART group (Students of Missouri Assisting Rural (and Urban) Transportation) that helped focus attention on a dangerous two-lane bottleneck in the Avenue of the Saints. Meldrum was a community sponsor, along with Jeff McReynolds, for the high school students who became transportation advocates after the death of a classmate.

SMART's contribution was recognized at each of the whistle stops, but other important stories emerged.

LaGrange Mayor Mike Hudnut said the highway kept the community accessible during the flood last month. Business U.S. 61 through downtown LaGrange was under water.

Looking forward, Hudnut hopes businesses will relocate "up on the hill" and make use of land set aside for development near the Avenue of the Saints.

At Palmyra, city officials nodded their heads when Tom Boland urged them to seek better interchange options in talks with the Missouri Department of Transportation.

"Get rid of those two blinking lights," Boland said, pointing to the at-grade crossings nearby where U.S. 61 connects to the city's business district.

At Hannibal's Middle School, heavy traffic with lots of trucks served as a backdrop as speakers urged the community to pursue the Hannibal relocation which will divert traffic from the U.S. 36/U.S. 24 intersection west of town to the U.S. 61 corridor to the south.

"Hannibal is at a crossroads," said Tom Oakley, chairman of the Quincy Highway Committee.

Oakley said Friday's highway opening will be followed by the opening of Ill. 336 in Western Illinois, now expected in November. Ill. 336 will complete the Illinois portion of the Chicago-to-Kansas City Expressway, Oakley said. The Missouri portion of the C-KC Expressway is scheduled for completion next year when U.S. 36 becomes a four-lane highway.

Mayor Roy Hark of Hannibal said state officials and business leaders will start to see greater development in the region.

"We do exist up here north of I-70," Hark said.

In New London, a sesquicentennial was being held in honor of the Ralls County Courthouse -- known as the oldest continuously operating courthouse west of the Mississippi. The highway caravan speakers attracted an audience from other sesquicentennial celebrants.

Rep. Rachel Bringer, D-Palmyra, told the crowd there are some continuing safety concerns over MoDOT's plans

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for the Hannibal highway relocation. She has met with homeowners along Trabue Lane who were caught off guard by a proposed route along that road.

"We all need to make sure the relocation around Hannibal will be safe and will be the right way and the most cost effective route ... I won't say the cheapest," Boland said.

He urged those working with MoDOT on the relocation route remain patient as well as persistent.

Bowling Green Mayor David Koester has seen the city grow in the past few years as people, who commute elsewhere to work, feel safe traveling the four-lane U.S. 61/Avenue of the Saints. Koester expects more job creation and growth when the city and MoDOT redesign the U.S. 61/U.S. 54 Interchange in the near future.

"I don't think it's any secret that Walmart is coming in there" and other business is likely to follow, Koester said.

In Troy the population growth has been fast and furious.

"We're the second fastest growing county in Missouri," Rep. Ed Schieffer said of Lincoln County. "The only one growing faster is Christian County down by Branson."

Moscow Mills Mayor Mike Clynch has seen that explosive growth as well. Clynch laughed when he saw a new city limit sign that listed the city's population at 1,742. City officials estimate the population has climbed to 2,400 in the time since Census 2000.

"We have 46,000 vehicles a day past this place and MoDOT tells us that's going to grow to 55,000 vehicles by 2010," Clynch said.

"That tells you the kind of commerce that's available on this road.

One added feature for the highway is its status as one of the most direct links between I-70 to the south and I-80 to the north in Iowa.

Meldrum became misty eyed at the final stop on the tour. She said the eight-year effort by SMART was worth the effort. When the group started MoDOT officials did not expect to have a four-lane Avenue of the Saints until 2020. Friday's opening could not have been expected at SMART's founding session.

"It seemed so far away even yesterday. Until you're actually there and driving on it and cutting the ribbon and looking in the faces of the crowd and remembering all the support we had along the journey, it doesn't seem real," Meldrum said.

"It has truly been a remarkable journey."