By Dave Dahl

TEUTOPOLIS – The state lawmakers who represent Teutopolis have worked up legislation which they say would prevent accidents such as the one which claimed five lives in late September.

A truck carrying anhydrous ammonia was involved and let loose some of its fatal chemical cargo. State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) and State Sen. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) say the problem is that traffic was detoured from a construction zone on I-70 to a construction zone on U.S. Route 40.

“This is literally one of the busiest interstates in the entire United States of America, and not only is it one of the busiest interstates, it’s  one of the busiest interstates for commercial truck traffic,” said Rose. “But the good news is IDOT has finally sanctioned its Effingham office to work with the locals in planning (construction for) next year. 

“That element was sorely missing from this construction year,” Rose concluded, practically spitting out each word as he spoke.

Niemerg says while local transportation officials have done a good job, he has had a difficult time getting IDOT to even pay attention. “In April, I began trying to have a conversation with state administrative officials. That was mostly met with silence.”

In addition to outlawing the sort of detour in the Teutopolis area, their legislation would require GPS providers to have a live person available to take updated information from IDOT and state police.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]