New road, drainage, and sidewalks along Hickory Street delivered with no cost to local taxpayers.
DU QUOIN, Ill. — The City of Du Quoin, the Illinois Department of Transportation, and project partners today marked the official completion of the U.S. 51 reconstruction project, resolving a flooding and infrastructure problem that has affected the corridor for more than a decade.
The roughly 4,000-foot stretch of U.S. 51 between Park Street and Stacy Street received a full pavement replacement, new drainage infrastructure on both sides of the road, and new sidewalks along the corridor's entire length. The project was funded through a combination of state and federal grants and a forgiven IDOT loan, with no direct cost to Du Quoin taxpayers.
For Mayor Josh Downs, the completion marks the end of a problem that has affected residents and businesses for a generation.
"This road has been an issue for decades in Du Quoin," Downs said. "We had people's basements being flooded, businesses being flooded, and potholes that would literally destroy cars and cost residents thousands of dollars in repairs. It's something that needed to be done for a long time, and we're proud to see it finally done — and done right."
The funding package secured by the city includes more than $2.5 million from the Delta Regional Authority and an $800,000 zero-interest loan from IDOT that was later fully forgiven by the State of Illinois. The grants closed a gap created by the utility relocation work required to protect the new road from future water main breaks.
"As elected officials, our first goal is to tap federal and state resources before we ever ask local taxpayers for anything," Downs said. "There are no local taxpayer dollars in this project, and that's something I'm very proud of."
In addition to the new road, the project added new sidewalks running the length of the corridor on both sides — a quality-of-life improvement that Downs called a health and safety issue for the community.
"It makes non-vehicle transportation a lot easier. People can walk, ride their bikes, and get up and down this road safely," Downs said. "Local communities in Southern Illinois just don't have the resources to replace all of their sidewalks every 10 or 20 years. To finally have this fixed is something we're very thankful for."
William Lo of the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce attended the ribbon-cutting and spoke to the broader significance of infrastructure projects like this for communities across the region.
"Projects like this are a culmination of years of hard work, from city planners to grant writers to engineers to contractors. It's a multi-year process," Lo said. "But most importantly, the completion of this road is for the people. When they go to a local restaurant or stop at Casey's for gas, they don't have to worry about whether the road is flooded or whether it's open. These invisible improvements deserve to be celebrated."
Derek Stowers, resident engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said the project delivers lasting value beyond the immediate fix.
"This project addressed problems with deteriorated pavement and added drainage to eliminate pothole and flooding issues," Stowers said. "This will decrease travel time for commuters and extend the life of the roadway. The investment that IDOT has put into the local community is helping to create a promising future for the area."
The reconstruction was completed by E.T. Simonds Construction. Jarrod McClanahan, the project supervisor and a lifelong Du Quoin resident, said the work addresses the root cause of the corridor's chronic flooding rather than the symptoms.
"For years, you'd see patches and overlays — band-aids — but if the base underneath is bad, the road never holds," McClanahan said. "This time the subgrade was rebuilt, drainage was built out on both sides, and the structure underneath is finally what it needs to be."
"Driving through here at night during a storm used to be dangerous because you couldn't even see the standing water. That shouldn't be a problem on this stretch anymore."
The completed road is engineered for a 40-to-50-year service life.