Collinsville IL May Finally Correct One-Way Main Street Mistake
Downtown Collinsville IL has some very handsome buildings and Main Street is perfectly scaled. The downtown is also near death and has been for years. Despite a streetscape makeover a few years ago, downtown has just not taken off as others have. The difference? Main St in Collinsville is one-way only.
From the Belleville News Democrat:
Business owners are as divided as the City Council on whether Main Street should go back to two-way after Illinois 159 is widened.
The City Council has discussed doing a $70,000 study, as the Illinois Department of Transportation needs to know whether to incorporate a two-way Main Street into its plans for Illinois 159 by January. Though some councilmen had not entirely made up their minds, the council is split on whether to proceed.
It’s the same with business owners, particularly retail businesses on the east end of Main Street. The street was made one-way eastbound in 1969, with neighboring Clay Street one-way westbound, creating the “Collinsville Loop.”
The linked article is a good read, it seems some still think this one-way traffic plan, nearly 40 years in place, is still a good idea. It is, in my view, a major part of what is holding back the potential of Collinsville.
Last September I spent some time in Collinsville on a lovely Saturday afternoon. That morning, downtown Edwardsville just a bit to the north, was hopping. Collinsvile, not so much. A recent visit was pretty much the same thing.
Main street is one-way heading east. Walking on the sidewalk it feels like a highway, not a pedestrian-friendly place to be.
Above, traffic on Main St. can continue east, most turns left for northbound 159.  The volume of traffic crossing Main St. from 159 is huge. Proponents of returning Mainstreet to two-way traffic correctly cite the fact that 159 traffic is unable to turn onto the bulk of Main St. What traffic Main St has feels mostly like a pass-through to get to 159. Regardless of Main St being one or two-way, I’m afraid of how a widened 159 will be passed through downtown Collinsville. Click here to see all 53 of my images from downtown Collinsville.
