By-Pass (Ring Road, Eastern Bypass, 474 Eastern Bypass, etc.) Studies in Tazewell County Countinue

At what cost? No one in the taxpaying sector will ever know, That is except for the regional EDC and IDOT and they don't care. They are getting well-paid by your taxes. My educated guess would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000,000,00 and all of it going to the above mentioned managers, engineers, consultants, etc.

These studies have been going on for over 16 years with expenditures every couple of years like a $2.4 million request in 2006 by then Congressman Ray LaHood, $3 million to a Chicago engineering firm in 2007, $6.4 million by Congressman Aaron Schock in 2009, millions more going back to at least 1995 and millions more before one shovel of dirt would be turned.

An organization called "Communities Against Ring Road Encroachment (C.A.R.E.)" was very active back then. It's remaining leadership needs to be revived. Estimates were made that over 35,000 trips would be made (mostly benefiting Caterpillar) but like all projects and estimates in this community have been wrong like Cubs Food, the ballpark, the zoo expansion which fell over $5 million short of raising the funds to complete the project, etc., an estimate and projections are just that, estimates and projections made by people in favor of whatever taxpayer dollar they want to spend.

And now these politicians most who never owned a business, are looking for more tax-collecting projects like museums, libraries, nursing homes, etc. to build to keep our highly paid unions bosses being reelected.

Back on 10/09/06, the JSEB wrote the following "Ringroad's circuitous journey begins again" . 'Like a bad penny- or a good one, depending on whom you ask-the ring road on the east side of the Illinois River keeps turning up. If it is to become a reality for our kids--it;s getting late for many of us adults--a corridor must be identified, land reserved and purchased. This likely central Illinois' last chance'.

That was 6 years ago and now 6, that' right, new options have been prepared by these highly paid "planners, bureaucrats, consultants and engineers". I haven't heard where our National Dept. of Transportation head, Ray LaHood, has promised the roughly one BILLION dollars that would be needed to build the bypass from Morton over a new bridge to Caterpillar-Mossville, while CAT is moving jobs out of Peoria County. (I don't blame Cat)

In my address to the Noon Optimist Club Tuesday, I stated that as far as spending goes, the Republicans are no better than Blago was, Quinn Reid, Waters, Barney. etc. and their hired hands, bureaucrats all.

Check it out. Another reason why I have declared myself an Independent. Although two votes I will not cast for Obama and Quinn.

Wake-up taxpayers. After November, where, at rate the rate the Republican hierarchy keeps shooting all Republicans in both feet,, I expect that 'he' will be reelected, we better get serious about a third party. And no, not Ron Paul as it's leader.