Well, I’m sure you’ve all seen this by now, but I turned on “word verification” in my comments section. That means that you will be shown a graphic of a word that only humans can read (so far — I’m sure some resourceful hackers are working on this) and you’ll have to type it in for verification in order to post a comment.
I had to do it. I was getting a lot of spam comments, which is really annoying. My original plan was to send the spammers to Singapore and have them caned mercilessly. But, there were certain logistical and legal problems with that, so I turned on word verification. Thanks for your understanding.
According to the Journal Star today, the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission identified “six Peoria-area environmental corridors and recommendations on how to preserve them.” One of them is the “Peoria to Chillicothe bluffs: steep, wooded, overlooking the Illinois River and habitat for numerous native plants and animals including the bobcat.” Plans for preservation include: requiring storm water management, natural landscaping and floodplain and topsoil protection. For the most sensitive sections, protection includes encouragement for landowners to use conservation easements and preservation of open spaces. Local governments could incorporate these requirements into zoning and other regulations.
The first thing I thought of when I read this is — it’s another setback for the long-suffering Peoria-to-Chicago highway project. Proponents of a direct Peoria-to-Chicago expressway were disappointed when congressman LaHood supported simply widening Route 29 to a four-lane highway. Now, that corridor could be in jeopardy if environmental preservation of the bluffs is legislated. At best, it will add substantially to the cost of widening the road; at worst (for proponents, anyway), it will eliminate that corridor from any widening at all.
It should be noted that the Peoria-to-Chicago highway project is part of former mayor Ransburg’s “Vision 2020” plan (remember that?). Ransburg said* that he would continue working on this plan even though he wasn’t mayor anymore, so I wonder what he thinks of this environmental report. On second thought, who cares? 🙂
*Reminder: you can’t believe anything Ransburg says.
News and Comment about Peoria, Illinois
