No one considers it newsworthy when Chris Langston and his fellow horologists eat or stay overnight in El Paso. But the money these clock collectors spend in the town five times each year reflects the way interstate highways affect the communities they pass through — as well as those they bypass. When Interstate 39, which intersects El Paso, was completed in 1992, it was hailed as part of a major transportation artery that stretched from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Since then, it has become an economic boon for several small Illinois communities between LaSalle and Bloomington. Highway exits have attracted new businesses to the off-ramp towns. New businesses have meant more jobs and more sales and property tax revenues. And more revenues in city coffers have paid for improved roads and increased city services. "The interstate has allowed the city to do a lot of infrastructure work," says El Paso resident Frank Iskrzycki. "We've kept the smalltown effect on one side and have the opportunity and advantages of having all the business on the other." In El Paso's case, the interstate has meant a permanent home for Central Illinois Chapter 66 of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. The group has been meeting in El Paso for eight years, but about two years ago considered moving because it was outgrowing its meeting space in a local restaurant. The group conducted one meeting in East Peoria. But members returned to El Paso because 1-39 allows easy access to a central location. "Most of our 125 members are from Wisconsin, Chicago, Rockford and Moline and use 1-39 heavily," says Langston, a Peorian. "One gentleman from Chicago said it's only two hours from his front door." Such access has spawned the building of motels, fast-food restaurants, antique shops and homes in El Paso, which has meant hundreds of thousands of dollars for the city. Sales tax revenue jumped from $252,527 in fiscal year 1991 to $567,235 in 1995. The extra money is helping to pay for infrastructure improvements — utilities, roads, water and sewer lines — that are being used to attract still more business to the 1-39 interchange. The city has been able to landscape a new 40-acre park with a swimming pool, tennis courts, community center and baseball diamonds. It has built a new water plant and put up a new public works building, which houses the local police department. The increase in sales tax revenue has meant less reliance on taxpayers to run this Woodford County community of 2,500, says city administrator Ted Gresham. He says the city's property tax rate dropped from $1.33 per $100 assessed valuation in 1992 to $1.09 three years later. Yet now El Paso must contend with the growth that comes with being accessible. On the plus side, new homes and businesses helped swell property tax coffers. School Superintendent James Miller says the extra property tax rev-

28 * February 1996 Illinois Issues

enue has allowed the district to spend $100,000 to renovate a science classroom and buy computers for local schools.

But these schools must now contend with overcrowding. Real estate agent Don Sutton says easy access to 1-39 and Bloomington, where many residents work, has lured many homebuyers. All 59 lots in one subdivision were sold in a five-month period. Growth like this has caused the school district's enrollment to jump an average of 7.5 percent yearly since 1987, Miller says. Enrollment is at capacity now, with 970 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

But a referendum for more classroom space seems a remote possibility. "The community is going to have to see a larger need than now," says Miller. "As we experience growth, which we anticipate, space is going to become a major issue."

Such potential problems seem worthwhile, though, to towns that otherwise might have died without 1-39. Consider Oglesby, a town of 3,700 residents about 40 miles north of El Paso. If not for the interstate, says former Mayor Gerald Scott, Oglesby could have disappeared from the map. "We had no way to support our police force," he says. "And it's an older town. All the young kids were leaving the area because there were no jobs."

Since the completion of 1-39, four restaurants, two motels and two gasoline station-convenience stores have been built in Oglesby. The population has stabilized. Much of the sales tax revenue, which increased from $89,475 in 1986 to $330,159 in 1994, has been used for street repairs. And in October came announcement of an 800,000-square-foot distribution facility that will employ more than 500 people. A key reason it is locating in Oglesby is its proximity to convenient transportation.

"1-39 has opened up this area as an interesting location for warehousing and transportation-related firms," says Barb Koch, executive director of the Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce. "1-39 allows the area to be centrally located to any market."

Just north of El Paso is Minonk, which has started to see benefits from I-39 but has yet to realize the largesse it has supplied Oglesby and El Paso. Yet such a future appears imminent. The Woodford County community of 2,000 has seen its sales tax revenues rise by more than $20,000 since fiscal year 1989, though downtown Minonk is more than a mile from the interstate, according to city administrator David Shirley. "There are a lot of out-of-state cars coming in," he says. "Restaurants are benefitting, and I've noticed some outdoorsmen shopping at the grocery store."

At the same time, the city's property tax rate has been lowered by almost 50 cents, primarily due to new residents building or buying. To capitalize on the potential growth, the city invested $1.18 million to buy and provide infrastructure for 26 acres northeast of 1-39.

James Letsos of Pontiac plans a sit-down restaurant with a minimum seating capacity of 175 in Minonk, plus a truck stop-convenience store. He expects to provide 50 to 70 full- and part-time jobs when the development is completed this year.

In mid-October, Wenona began capitalizing on 1-39 when a fast-food/service station opened at its exit. A restaurant and motel are expected to open in February or March, says Mayor Bill Simmons.

So while an interstate can keep groups like the clock collectors coming to town for the sake of convenience, its overall impact on a community can expand well beyond a few extra fast-food meals purchased and motel rooms rented. *

Pat Harrison is the city editor of the Daily Times in Ottawa.

As for those who are bypassed: 'You could shoot a gun without hitting anything.' Just as an interstate can breathe economic life into a community it passes through, it can suck business away from others. "Towns which interstates bypass tend to lose 25 to 30 percent of their businesses in the first year," says author Tom Teague, who has researched the history and impact of U.S. highways for his book Searching for 66.. "Some old-timers tell me that when interstates bypass them, it is like turning off the tap." That's been the case in Lostant, about 40 miles north of Bloomington. After Interstate 39 was built, bypassing the village, a gas station-convenience store there closed, leading to a severe decline in sales tax revenue. Without the revenue, says village trustee Randy Freeman, Lostant has no money to repair sidewalks and streets. Nor is there money to install a sewer system that village officials need to attract business. "People have said they missed the turnoff," says Freeman, who circulated petitions asking the state to erect a sign at the interstate exit nearest Lostant. A few miles north, the opening of 1-39 almost meant a death knell for the Village Inn restaurant and truck stop in Tonica. It took some creativity — and a bit of private investment — to pick things up there. "Business went down 80 percent for about nine months," says Lois Dellinger, a bookkeeper at the restaurant. "You could shoot a gun without hitting anything. Truckers don't pay any attention to the exit numbers." Business improved, though, once the restaurant's owners convinced state officials to put up a sign alerting motorists that food, gas and diesel fuel were available at the exit nearest to Tonica. The Village Inn pays $1,200 a year for the sign. Pat Harrison

Illinois Issues February 1996 * 29