3 days Ago By JOE HOLLEMAN St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Yet another case of TikTok to the rescue. After a video posted on the social media site picked up a viral-qualifying 40 million views, U.S.
Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, is asking for a little roadside assistance. The issue specifically is the exit (No.
16) on westbound Interstate 64, at O’Fallon, Illinois. A video posted last month shows the traffic on the exit to be so backed up that the line of cars — either waiting to make a right turn to go to O’Fallon or a left to travel to Shiloh — stretches back onto the interstate. Budzinski, whose 13th Congressional District includes all or part of Macoupin, St.
Clair, Madison, Sangamon, Piatt, Macon and Champaign counties, wrote to Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Omer Osman requesting the department’s assistance to alleviate the traffic snarl. “The confusion and congestion at this interchange creates a dangerous situation for local drivers and impedes the flow of traffic,” Budzinski wrote to Osman, adding that she was “grateful to the local resident who shared their experience with this exit on TikTok.” The TikTok post not only picked up 40 million viewers, it also prompted 5.
2 million “likes” and more than 13,000 comments. The state’s master plan calls for the expansion of the interstate in O’Fallon between Green Mount Road and Illinois Route 158, which also includes work on the exit. Plans for future improvements considered, Budzinski asked Osman to give the highway plan some gas and “expedite the planning and implementation of a solution” for that area.
Rep. Nikki Budzinski speaks from the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Budzinski Joe Holleman – 314-340-8254 jholleman@post-dispatch.
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