Reader ponders north Peoria roadway projects

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OPINION — The El Mirage Road extension north from Loop 303 to Jomax Road has been a top priority to ease traffic congestion in north Peoria.

Certainly, the Happy Valley Parkway and Vistancia Boulevard intersection is in need of change to accommodate rush-hour traffic. To do this with minimal inconvenience and added traffic elsewhere it seems to me the original plan to extend El Mirage Road made a great deal of sense.

If the El Mirage extension were completed first, the intersection at Happy Valley could be completely closed with minimal disruption. In addition, the construction work could be done in a more efficient and safer manner with traffic completely closed.

Maybe the extension could be completed in two phases. First from Loop 303 to Happy Valley and then the section from Happy Valley to Jomax.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Oct. 21 public meeting on the project, so I don’t know if any of this has been discussed.

I have been very happy with the planning that has been done in north Peoria over the years, excluding the Amkor plan for Vistancia. It seems the city was planning for growth appropriately. Lately, I’m not sure that same diligence has been used.

I hope we don’t use haphazard planning and end up with a traffic situation like the one at U.S. 60 and Loop 303.