Of Pigs and Presidents

One of the dirty (literally) little secrets about Springfield is the transit of hog-bearing trucks through the downtown area from points east and south on their way to the Beardstown, IL Excel meat packing plant. They travel on Route 97 (Jefferson Street) that runs right between the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and the associated museum. An enclosed catwalk connects the two buildings with the Jefferson Street traffic, including the hog trucks, passing below.

Anyway, the constant flow of these trucks, and there are a lot of them, raises quite stink (again , literally). It's not something that is going to impress visitors, at least not in a positive way.

Well, with this issue in mind, ETK has fired off a letter to Springfield mayor Tim Davlin.

Mayor,

Actually, I'm a villager of Jerome. But I work in downtown Springfield,
and have for most of my adult life.

I wanted to take this opportunity to raise an issue which I believe
that you should address, and quickly.

I feel that the transit of dozens of "Hog Trucks", each carrying dozens
of hogs, down Jefferson street everyday must come to an end, and as soon as
possible.

I've seen such trucks running over the 11th street railroad tracks so
violently (while heading west down Jefferson) that hay, and poop fly off the
trucks leaving trails of poop spread down the street for blocks. In the summer
this flattened poop steams away for weeks, attracting flies.

It has become a topic of discussion several times, just this week among coworkers here at [ETK's employer]. I know of no one who wouldn't love to see these trucks banned from downtown Springfield.

Now such disgust will find itself center stage, being traversed right
between the Abraham Lincoln Museum, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library - one of the most prestigious cultural sites in Illinois.

While true, that Abe would have seen a pig or two wandering up the
muddy streets of early Springfield, this is not what we want or need in modern
Springfield.

With reports on the dangers of aerosolized bacteria making children
sick at agricultural displays at numerous county fairs throughout the country,
and concerns over antibiotic resistant bacteria finding breeding grounds in farm
animals - there's just no way that the huge amounts of biological particulate
matter (i.e., bacteria, and viri) spraying off those Hog Trucks can be
healthy.

If dozens of open trucks were streaming through town each holding
dozens of naked human beings covered in poop were polluting downtown on a daily
basis it would have been stopped in a second.

But because it's Hogs, it's o.k.?

It also smells to high heavens, and this foul air gets concentrated
into nearby office buildings with their modern air conditioning systems
recirculating, this stench. I can't imagine what the new Library, and Museum
will smell like after awhile, but it can't be a pleasant thought.

Just horrible!

Is this the image we want hundreds of thousands of tourist to take away
with them of Springfield?

Someone needs to speak out for what is good for Springfield, not
Beardstown's slaughter house.

Why not pass a city ordinance which would fine any agricultural truck passing through the city without an inspection, or some such thing?

They could surely route these trucks around the city.

Can you imagine the opening day being made a farce by the driving
stink of dozens of these trucks passing nearby with all the attending
VIPs?

Surely, you see my concern.

There, I've gone, and done it, I brought up the Hog Trucks - Hee
Haa!

[ETK]

I'm not sure who has the ultimate authority to regulate the traffic on Jefferson. Sure, it's in the city but isn't Route 97 a state highway? Can the city impose restrictions? I don't know, just asking.