News
2007
October 10, 2007 -
Can Illinois River Road drive economy?
(PEORIA, IL) Business on the Illinois River has taken different turns over the years, but it’s the river road that could drive the area’s economic future.
One of the topics at last week’s conference on the Illinois River in Peoria was on the 291-mile stretch of road running along the river from Princeton to Havana that has earned National Scenic Byway status.
The Illinois River Road, as it is known, is the latest of seven roadways in the state to gain scenic byway status, said Curt Pianalto of America’s Byways Resource Center in Duluth, Minn.
That distinction is an economic development tool for towns, he said.
While the federal government provides funding resources for the [126] national byways across the country, each road develops its own promotional program, said Pianalto.
States run their own program with individual organizations forming their own partnerships, he said. “It’s regionalism at its best,” said Pianalto, crediting Illinois River Road organizers as among the nation’s most active.
Tourism is only the river’s latest enterprise. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, mussels were once harvested, providing food as well as the raw material for button factories along the river. Horsedrawn teams once carted blocks of river ice for sale in home refrigeration units.
In the new age of eco-tourism, proponents of the river road look to develop the route.
“We want to create greater awareness of the Illinois River,” said Mike Quine, who heads the river road committee.
Speaking in Peoria at last week’s river conference, Quine said the Illinois River Road had already received nearly $300,000 in state and federal grants since earning the scenic byway distinction in 2005.
“We’ve applied for grants that will bring in $1 million in the next few years,” he said.
Funds would go towards increased signage as well as enlarged marketing efforts that would include maintaining a Web site and printing of brochures and maps, said Quine.
The promotion of roadways has becoming increasingly important in state tourism efforts, said Jan Kostner, deputy director of the Illinois Bureau of Tourism.
“What we’re finding is that people are taking shorter vacations - two-day trips instead of two-week expeditions - and they’re more spontaneous than they used to be,” she said.
Downstate attractions within easy driving range of the Chicago metro area with its 12 million people are what the state is looking for, said Kostner.