The area formerly designated as protected land for the eventual construction of a gateway connector.

The Illinois Department of Transportation has issued a notice abolishing the proposed Gateway Connector as a protected corridor, it was learned this week.

A publication of this notice will appear in newspapers of general circulation in Monroe, Madison and St. Clair counties, where the previously protected land is located. All affected property owners will be notified by mail.

The notice states that the proposed Gateway Connector expansion of Route 158 from Troy to Columbia, which was approved by IDOT on March 9, 2005, has been abolished effective Feb. 10.

Roughly 40 miles long and up to two miles wide, the final study area extended from the I-55/70-U.S. 40 interchange near Troy, south and west through St. Clair County, to I-255 near Columbia.

The concept of a new Route 158 connecting Interstate 70 near Troy with Interstate 255 near the Jefferson Barracks Bridge in Columbia first became studied in 1999. However, the cost of acquiring right-of-way and construction was estimated at $500 million in 2004, with no money allocated for additional studies once the corridor protection map was approved in 2005.

A public informational hearing was last held on the project in February 2014 at The Falls in Columbia, although there had been no revisions to the protected corridor or any additional studies conducted since 2004.

As part of the project planning process, IDOT put a corridor protection district in place, allowing the state to purchase land. With this notice of abolition, property owners previously in the protection district will no longer be required to provide notice to IDOT of any anticipated development costs or planned improvements.

Several people had voiced opposition with the proposed connector, including property owners in the affected area. The group Citizens for Smart Growth kept people informed on the project via the website Stop158.org, encouraging the signing of petitions and letters to lawmakers in an effort to halt the project.

“To all of you who signed petitions, wrote letters, made calls, and done so much — to you the rest of us owe a great deal,” group spokesperson Richard Ellerbrake stated in an email. “Coming together, we did what citizens are supposed to do, and we thank you for that.”