Traffic Travis | Baltimore Avenue Bridge Replacements Will Affect Traffic On Illinois 121 For Eight To Nine Months

DECATUR - Marcia Whitley and other Mount Zion residents aren'tlooking forward to increased traffic on Illinois 121 for the nexteight to nine months.

But that will be the major consequence of closing Baltimore Avenueon Monday between Bentonville Road and Skyline Drive and later thismonth between Lost Bridge and Bentonville roads to replace twoaging bridges.

"There's going to be people who don't live anywhere near thosebridges who are going to be impacted," Macon County Engineer BruceBird said.

The first to close, the south bridge, spans Findley Creek, whilethe bridge a quarter mile to the north spans Big Creek in CannonPark and is commonly known as Fisherman's Bridge.

Bird said about 50 households between the bridges and alongBentonville Road were surveyed and overwhelmingly responded thatthey'd rather both bridges be replaced at once and get it overwith.

Temporary traffic signals were activated Friday at Ill. 121 andBentonville Road and will operate throughout the closure. "We getseveral accidents at that intersection already, and traffic will beincreasing," Bird said.

Baltimore Avenue carries about 6,500 vehicles a day as one of twomajor north-south roads connecting Decatur to Mount Zion. Ill. 121handles 12,000 vehicles daily and will probably get 15,000 to16,000 during the bridge projects, Bird said, with many of the resttaking Turpin Road.

Schmidt Construction of Mount Zion will replace the Findley CreekBridge, built in 1971, at a cost of $985,000. Otto Baum Co. ofDecatur will replace Fisherman's Bridge, built in 1969, for about$1.3 million.

Bird said the work was originally scheduled to begin this summerbut was delayed first by the need to obtain right of way nearFisherman's Bridge from the city of Decatur and later by difficultyin obtaining the temporary traffic signals.

The hope, he added, was to confine the closure to a single schoolyear - which could still happen, as the projected completion isnext June or July.

Mount Zion Superintendent Travis Roundcount said the district hadFirst Student change five of its routes at the start of school Aug.16 so there would be less confusion when Baltimore Avenue didclose.

"Our bigger concern is for parents that drop off kids or highschool kids who drive themselves because many of them are going tohave to go a different way," he said.

Bird said the Long Creek Fire Protection District also has a planin place for navigating the road closure.

Whitley, who lives near the intersection of Baltimore and HarrylandRoad, said taking her daughters to school won't be a problem, norwill it affect her getting to her job as a teacher at Mount ZionGrade School.

But because Bentonville Road won't be an option for her, whenevershe takes her girls to Studio B for dance lessons or heads toWal-Mart or Rural King, she'll have to drive south to Main Streetand go east through Mount Zion before heading north on Illinois121.

That might be enough to tip the scales in favor of going to SouthShores more often, to shop at Kroger or eat Mexican food.

"We might be going to Guadalajara instead of El Corral," Whitleysaid. "I'm really dreading the extra traffic and the extra timeit's going to take."

tchurchill@herald-review.com 421-7978