GOVERNORS' PARKWAY
CONSTRUCTION COST: $10,000,000
COMPLETION DATE: AUGUST 2009
CLIENT: MADISON COUNTY HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT

Madison County Highway Department developed a five-year plan to construct over fifty roadway projects. These improvements are intended to reduce traffic congestion, improve motorist safety and promote economic development. Included in this plan is the construction of Governors’ Parkway.

Governors’ Parkway is a new east-west arterial route in Madison County that will allow traffic to bypass congested, downtown Edwardsville and provide more-direct access to I-55 from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Oates Associates was selected to design the final, easternmost segment of this section, consisting of about 3 miles of new highway on new alignment with a bridge over Moody Creek, extending from Troy Road (old IL 159) to IL 143 at I-55 in Edwardsville, Illinois. The new road will be a three-lane concrete pavement and paved shoulders with two through-traffic lanes a two-way left-turn lane. New traffic signal systems will be installed at the intersections with Gerber Road, District Drive and IL 143.

Included in this section was the design of a bridge over a tributary to Dunlap Lake. Hydraulic analysis indicated that a significant waterway opening was required to eliminate the critical backwater elevations and flooding potential to adjacent residences. A 125 foot, single-span steel plate girder was utilized to minimize the impacts to the hydraulic capacity of the tributary. The hydraulic design and backwater considerations were coordinated with the COE and the Department of Natural Resources. In addition, the project involved design of 9 large box culverts.

Oates’ services included surveying, design and preparation of plans, specifications, estimates and bidding documents, right of way documents, and construction engineering services.