Illinois Route 255

Illinois Route 255
Route information
Maintained by IDOT
Length:	16.46 mi (26.49 km)
Existed:	October 1998 – present
Major junctions
Southeast end:	I-255 / I-270 in Pontoon Beach
Northwest end:	Seminary Road in Alton
Location
Counties:	Madison
Highway system
Illinois state highway system Illinois Tollway system ← I-255 IL 267 →

Illinois Route 255, also referred to as the Alton Bypass (although it does not yet completely bypass Alton), is a northwesterly extension of Interstate 255 in southwestern Illinois. Illinois 255 starts at I-270 in Pontoon Beach and currently ends at Seminary Road northeast of Alton (at a distance of 16.46 miles (26.49 km)).

Route description

Illinois 255 is a four-lane, limited-access freeway for its entire length. It serves as an important circumferential artery for the northeastern portion of the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area. When the highway is completed, it will extend approximately 21 mi (34 km)—from Interstate 270 near Edwardsville to U.S. Highway 67 in Godfrey. As of August 2008, its northwestern terminus was located at Seminary Road in northeast Alton following the opening that month of a new 2.6 mi (4.2 km) segment that extended the highway from its former terminus at Fosterburg Road. The highway passes just to the west of the St. Louis Regional Airport.

Although Illinois 255 is designed to federal interstate-highway standards, it is being built by the Illinois Department of Transportation using state-provided funds.

History

Described as "The Road to Prosperity" by business leaders and government officials who initially proposed it in the late 1970s, Illinois 255 was part of a region-wide effort to create a high-speed alternative to U.S. Route 67 over the Clark Bridge through the city-center of Alton, and to two congested local routes (Illinois Routes 3 and 111) that roughly parallel the Illinois 255 corridor. Although it was part of the much larger Corridor 413 plan, the local politicians focused mostly on the segment from Interstate 270 to what was then Illinois Route 267 north of the Godfrey "Y" intersection. At that time, the Berm Highway, the Beltline extension, and the Madison Avenue connector were not built and both Illinois Routes 3 and 111 were over capacity between Alton and Interstate 270. In 1975, a six-month detour related with the closing of the Old Clark Bridge exposed the need for the Alton Bypass along with the other three routes. However, until 1985, the Alton Bypass was a low priority, as other local road projects in the area were considered more important.

The first 6.5 mi (10 km) segment of Illinois 255, from Interstate 270 to Illinois 143, was completed in October 1998 at the cost of $40 million (excluding land acquisition).

The second segment (a 7.2 mi (12 km) extension from IL-143 in Roxana to Fosterburg Road) was opened on October 20, 2006, approximately one year behind schedule, owing to the 2005 collapse of the Wisconsin-based construction company that held the contracts for that portion of the roadway. The second segment was completed at a cost of approximately $78.1 million.

The penultimate segment of Illinois 255 from Fosterburg Road to Seminary Road in rural northeast Alton opened on August 22, 2008. Construction costs for this portion of the roadway totaled $25.1 million.

Future

The final segment to be constructed will run 4.3 mi (7 km) from Seminary Road to U.S. 67 north of Godfrey near its junction with Illinois Routes 267 and 111. Funding for the remaining segment of the bypass, estimated at a cost of $46 million, is included in IDOT's current Multi-Year Highway Improvement Program for FY 2009-2014. At present, $9.1 million is included for the current fiscal year to pay for engineering, land acquisition, utility work, and construction of a new bridge over IL-111. The best-case scenario anticipates completion of the entire Alton Bypass in 2012.

Upon completion, the IL-255 route may or may not be redesignated as an Interstate Route. If the corridor were to be signed as an extension of the current I-255 bypass, all exits north of I-270 would have to be renumbered. As a standalone spur route, IL-255 numbered as I-255 would violate the AASHO scheme for interstate numbering that requires an odd-number first digit (although as part of the larger I-255 bypass the route is not technically a spur even though it extends past the segment of I-55 that it bypasses). The entire corridor from Godfrey, IL to Mehlville, MO (comprising both I-255 and IL-255) could also carry secondary signage as U.S. 67 Bypass, since it would be a true bypass of US-67 (that passes through the St. Louis urban agglomeration) actually connecting with US-67 at both endpoints.

Construction of a new expressway route for US-67 between Jacksonville and Alton is planned to follow the corridor through White Hall, Carrollton, and Jerseyville. It will end in Godfrey near the Illinois 255 extension.

Interchanges

Information on future interchanges comes from the appendix ([1] to a corridor study done by The River Bend Growth Association ([2]), the Chamber of Commerce, and economic development organization to communities north of St. Louis.

Pictures

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  Control city from IL 111.

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  Northbound at IL 111/Exit 8.

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  Damaged signs off Exit 2, which has since been removed.

References

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Madison	Pontoon Beach	0.0	30	I-255 (Exit 30) / I-270 (Exit 7A-B) – Memphis, Kansas City, Indianapolis	Southern terminus. I-255 continues south.
	Poag	1	2	Gateway Commerce Center Drive East
			3	New Poag Road
	South Roxana		5	Madison Avenue
	Roxana	6.5	6	IL 143 – Edwardsville, Wood River
	Wood River		8	IL 111 (Vaughn Road, Bellwood Drive)	Control cities change in the southbound direction.
	Bethalto		10	IL 111 / IL 140 (MacArthur Drive)	SPUI interchange
	Fosterburg	13.7	13	Fosterburg Road
	Alton	16.46	16	Seminary Road	Current northern terminus