I was unable to attend last night's city council meeting since I was driving 15 hours straight home from Nebraska.  At 6:30pm yesterday, I was somewhere between Grand Island and Kearney Nebraska.   That's where our wonderful reporting by the Effingham Daily News helps out!

As reported today, the Effingham City Council took steps to reconstruct Exit 159/West Fayette Ave.  It will cost the city $26,000 which will be paid for by TIF funds.  I don't like TIF districts, but if they are going to exist here in Effingham, this project is very proper use of that money.  The rest of the $20 million cost will be picked up by Illinois and DC. 

We've been saying for a long time that West Fayette/Exit 159 is an embarrassment to Effingham.  There's a pothole over on West Fayette that the city has filled a couple times this year already that could break an axle or bust something else if you hit it just right.  Plus, Exit 159 is a safety hazard if you exit from the west.  Trucks turning left have a hard time seeing you coming at them heading east into town from the west side of the interstate.  The improvements planned will hopefully save a life someday.

This improvement will also hopefully draw more businesses to Exit 159.  The old Dixie Truck Stop land has been undeveloped for quite sometime so hopefully, these improvements will facilitate something being built on that land.