Boone County Illinois

Boone County traffic fatalities on downswing

Median cables, special traffic patrols and a high rate of seat-belt use are all believed to be factors in the decline in fatal crashes this year in Boone County.

By the July 4 holiday last year, law enforcement in Boone County had responded to five fatal crashes. As of yesterday, only one fatal crash had occurred this year.

“We’re seeing fewer head-on crashes,” said traffic Sgt. Brian Leer of the Boone County Sheriff’s Department, referring to median cables added to Highway 63 in the past year. “Those crashes end badly.”

Head-on collisions along Interstate 70 and Highway 63 accounted for many of the county’s fatal crashes in past years. The lone fatal crash this year involved a Sturgeon man whose vehicle was struck while crossing Highway 63 on Peabody Road.

Cables or concrete barriers divide I-70 from Kansas to Illinois. The Highway 63 median is lined with cables from the Callaway County line north to Columbia.

Median cables are not perfect, Leer said, with some large vehicles still skidding across into oncoming traffic. But they do help. Before the start of cable installations on I-70 in 1999, annual cross-median fatalities numbered 15 to 25, said John Miller, a Missouri Department of Transportation traffic safety engineer. That number is close to zero today, with only 10 percent of crashes crossing the cables.

“A truck can barrel through because of its size,” he said. “Vehicles are still getting to the other side, but most of the time the cable wraps up the car. … It gives other vehicles time to react.”

Statistics on the Highway 63 cables have not been compiled because the project has been complete for less than a year, Leer said. But median cables don’t get all the credit, Leer and Miller said. Thousands of miles of rumble strips are being placed on shoulders and center lines as well.

“They get your attention,” Miller said. “They give you pretty good feedback as a driver to change your behavior.”

Leer and Miller also believe special enforcements are altering drivers’ behavior. Both the sheriff’s department and Columbia police operate traffic units, while Columbia police also have a two-person unit for enforcement of driving-while-intoxicated violations.

Both departments, along with the University of Missouri Police Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol, conduct special enforcements throughout the year.

Columbia police were planning extra DWI enforcement efforts over the Independence Day weekend, and the highway patrol is closely monitoring traffic on interstates, including I-70, with troopers stationed at 20-mile intervals.

Guest Column: Boone County farmers pressured to sign wind farm ...

Guest Column: Boone County farmers pressured to sign wind farm contracts

By Concerned Citizens of Boone County

Unsigned Boone County Farmers are NOW being pressured to SIGN CONTRACTS with Mainstream Renewable by the end of April 2011. Mainstream has stated to county officials that they would only be filing for permits by the spring of 2012. What is the RUSH now?

By way of introduction, we are the Concerned Citizens of Boone County, which is an Illinois not-for-profit organization. Specifically, we are sending you the enclosed information from the Informed Farmers Coalition, which is a group of Lee County and Bureau County landowners and citizens whose goal is to spread awareness of all facts concerning wind farm development in the area. We share this common goal with the Informed Farmers Coalition. We believe that we have environmental and energy issues considering energy alternatives, and we believe that these technical matters should be solved by using “Real Science.”

Vestas, a large manufacturer of wind turbines, has stated in their safety requirements for their employees in their Mechanical Operating and Maintenance Manual of a Vestas 300-ft. V90 Wind Turbine, “Do not stay within a radius of 400m or 1300 feet from the turbine unless it is necessary … Make sure that children do not stay by or play nearby the turbine.” According to this same document, it reads: “In case of a fire during an uncontrolled operation, do under no circumstances approach the turbine. Evacuate and rope off the turbine in a radius of a minimum of 400m or 1300 feet.”

Are these required precautions from a manufacturer of wind turbines in agreement with the Boone County specifications? The Boone County Amended Zoning Ordinance, which is on the Boone County website, dated May 26, 2010, Section 4.8.7H, speaks about Setbacks for Wind Energy Conversion Systems. The setbacks are 1,000 feet from any primary structure, 1.1 times the tower’s height from public roads, third party transmission lines, and communication towers and 1.1 times the tower’s height from property lines not part of the Special Use petition. This means that if a tower was 400 feet tall, the tower could be placed only 440 feet from a non-participating party’s property line.

Since the recession, much of Boone County has been in a depressed economic state, and this proposed wind development could further affect a depressed real estate market and the prosperity of the County. In Adams County, Illinois, McCann Appraisal did an in-depth real estate appraisal within 2 miles of each wind turbine in June of 2010. The real estate data results, typically revealed a range of 25 percent to nearly 40% of property value loss, with some instances of total loss as measured by abandonment and demolition of homes, some bought out by wind energy developers and others exhibiting nearly complete loss of marketability.

The past and present of Boone County, Illinois, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, general and local statistics, history of the nortwest, history of Illinois, constitution of the United States, map of Boone County,miscellaneous matters, etc., etc

The past and present of Boone County, Illinois, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, general and local statistics, history of the nortwest, history of Illinois, constitution of the United States, map of Boone County,miscellaneous matters, etc., etc

Background studies, Belvidere and Boone County, Illinois

The history of Boone County, Iowa, containing ... biographical sketches ... war records of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, history of the Northwest, history of Iowa, map of Boone county ... etc. ...

History of the early settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois, "centennial record"