The delays on Route 29 between Taylorville and Springfield have long been frustrating. But, for U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville), hosting a completion ceremony of the road project at Rochester Tuesday, the story is personal.
“On Dec. 23, 1992, I was driving to work in Springfield, and I saw, unfortunately, a car sliding down the road sideways,” Davis remembered. “As it impacted the car in front of me, I was able to go around the car in the ditch. Melody Traughber didn’t make it. She passed away. I got to witness what happens on a highway like 29 when we didn’t see the four lanes.
The governor, state transportation secretary, state lawmakers, and local officials from all along that corridor participated in the ceremony on a chilly afternoon outside the public library in Rochester.
