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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and the Illinois Department
3of Transportation (IDOT) have jurisdiction over more than
42,248 miles of primary and auxiliary highway roadways in
5Illinois that are designated by the United States Department
6of Transportation (USDOT) as part of the Interstate Highway
7System; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The longest interstate highway in Illinois is
9Interstate 57; with more than 359 miles of highway in
10Illinois, this segment is more than 94% of the 381-mile total
11length of the highway within the United States; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Interstate highways are marked with guide signs,
13including directional signs that indicate the direction that a
14highway is going should a motor vehicle and its driver turn
15onto it; these directional signs are posted according to USDOT
16guidelines; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Many Illinois interstate highway directional
18signs refer to municipalities outside of the State of
19Illinois; they are semiotic indicators of the directions that
20traffic on each interstate highway will go; if a sign reads
21"Toledo", it indicates the highway is heading east; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Within the system of directional signs for
2Interstate 57 in Illinois, many northbound signs read
3"Chicago", and many southbound signs read "Memphis"; and
 
4    WHEREAS, While Interstate 57 contains mileage within the
5city of Chicago and the northern terminus of this highway is in
6Chicago, Interstate 57 does not go anywhere near Memphis,
7Tennessee; after leaving Illinois at Cairo, southbound traffic
8on Interstate 57 drives for 22 miles in Missouri and then, near
9Sikeston, Missouri, is fed onto Interstate 55 that continues
10in a southward direction from Sikeston; only after an
11additional 138 miles on Interstate 55, in Missouri and in
12Arkansas, does this Interstate 55 traffic get to Memphis; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Interstate 57 is thus separated by 138 miles of
14highway, representing at least two hours of driving time, from
15Memphis; and
 
16    WHEREAS, In contrast to this two-hour separation from
17Memphis, Interstate 57 has many Illinois cities and towns of
18local and national fame and renown adjacent to its
19right-of-way within and through Illinois; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Champaign, located on Interstate 57 with its
21neighbor Urbana, is the home of the University of Illinois,
22one of the world's great research universities, and the

 

 

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1Champaign-Urbana metro area is the home of many of Illinois's
2most eminent residents; many more Illinoisans go to
3Champaign-Urbana than go to Memphis; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Cairo, located on Interstate 57, possesses one of
5the most historic, dramatic, and easily-remembered locations
6in the United States, being the place where the Ohio River
7flows into the Mississippi River; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Interstate 57 directional signs that have been
9erected and maintained by Illinois tax money should direct
10motorists toward destinations that are located on the
11interstate highway of the same name, especially if these
12locations are placed within Illinois; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
14HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
15we urge the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to
16alter the directional signage that surrounds Interstate 57 to
17change the directional name of Interstate 57 heading south to
18a city or town that is located on Interstate 57 within
19Illinois; and be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, That if IDOT needs to negotiate with the federal
21Department of Transportation to accomplish this directional
22sign renaming, that these negotiations should start at once;

 

 

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1and be it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That any negotiations and directional signage
3changes be based upon the principal of "truth in signage",
4with all directional signs that advertise and guide motor
5vehicles toward southbound Interstate 57 being signed to a
6location that is in fact served by Interstate 57; and be it
7further
 
8    RESOLVED, That if this truth-in-signage principle requires
9the re-signing of other Illinois Interstate Highways that
10these roadways be re-signed as well; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12delivered to Illinois Secretary of Transportation Omer Osman.