This new road that connects Rte 130 on the east side of Charleston with Rte 121 on the west side of Mattoon is called CR 1000N (CR being County Road). There’s even a new exit off I-57 for it. It basically follows the old county road and was widened and strengthened for truck traffic. It’s a great road and it does what it was designed to do. The only glitch was a bit of poor prior planning. The old CR 1000N ended at the edge of a farm and picked up again on the other side of it. The planned route for the new road took it straight through the silos and farmhouse you see in the distance. The farmer who lives there was unwilling to let his farm and house be plowed under for the road. Imagine that. So the construction of the road has been at a relative standstill for a couple years now. The construction is in progress on the other side of his house, but without the half mile or so needed to connect the endpoint in the image below with the end of the current construction on the other side, this road is nothing but a huge waste of money.

You would think the folks building this road would have made sure they had a clear route before starting construction, or at least running it to this point. I’ve read that the two sides have supposedly come to some agreement whereby the road will now run around the silos and farmhouse, but it will have to be a pretty significant curve to avoid the buildings and still connect to the road on the other side.