Video of traffic backup in O’Fallon goes viral, prompts member of Congress to intervene
A viral TikTok video has gotten the attention of an Illinois congresswoman because it shows a “massive threat to motorists’ safety” on the Interstate 64 exit ramp to O’Fallon and Shiloh, according to the lawmaker.
O’Fallon resident Tisha Crawley’s Aug. 15 video shows a line of cars on the Exit 16 ramp so long that it is spilling onto the interstate. More than 40 million TikTok users have seen it, including U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski.
It’s a common occurrence, according to O’Fallon Mayor Herb Roach, who said he is also concerned about crashes that could result from distracted drivers rear-ending cars in those situations.
“Any evening you go by there, you can see a backup with traffic coming in from St. Louis,” he said.
The Illinois Department of Transportation is aware of the problem, and the agency has plans to add additional lanes to the area to address it. But construction is years away, according to the agency’s project timeline published online.
After watching the TikTok video, Budzinski sent a letter to Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Omer Osman requesting that the agency speed up the planned work.
“I urge IDOT to implement this expansion project as soon as possible so that we can ensure the safety of the thousands of Southern Illinoisans and others who utilize I-64 and the Exit 16 offramp every day,” Budzinski wrote in the Sept. 12 letter to Osman.
Budzinski represents Illinois’ 13th District, which includes part of O’Fallon and other metro-east communities as well as Springfield and Champaign in central Illinois.
Roach said Thursday he supported Budzinski’s sending the letter to IDOT.
“They’ve recognized the need and now it’s about moving this thing forward as quickly as possible,” he said.
An Illinois Department of Transportation spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday about whether the agency planned to expedite its I-64 project like the congresswoman requested.
Crawley, 31, said in an interview that she has taken Exit 16 daily as part of her commute home from her job in St. Louis the past five years. She often sees traffic there.
All of the cars shown in the traffic jam in Crawley’s video were waiting to turn right at the intersection at the end of the ramp: southbound Green Mount Road. They used the right shoulder to allow the few cars turning left at the intersection — like Crawley’s — to get by.
Drivers take Exit 16 to get to homes, hospitals, hotels, restaurants and stores in O’Fallon and Shiloh, as well as other nearby communities like Belleville, Swansea, Freeburg and Mascoutah. Those cities have largely gained population from 2010 to 2020, census data shows.
Crawley thinks that growth is the reason for the traffic problem.
“The population was increasing but the traffic flow was not changing,” she said.
This story was originally published September 12, 2024 at 2:50 PM.
