Weber v. Dep't of Pub. Works & Bldg.

• Decision Date: 09 April 1935
• Docket Number: No. 22819.,22819.
• Citation: 195 N.E. 427,360 Ill. 11
• Parties: WEBER et al. v. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND BUILDING et al.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

360 Ill. 11

195 N.E. 427

WEBER et al.

v.DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND BUILDING et al.

No. 22819.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Feb. 21, 1935.

Rehearing Denied April 9, 1935.

Suit by Albert G. Weber and others against the Department of Public Works and Building and others. From an adverse decree, complainants appeal.

Affirmed.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Sangamon County; Walter W. Wright, judge.

Joe L. Johnson and Fred W. Potter, Jr., both of Peoria, for appellants.

Otto Kerner, Atty. Gen., and M. E. Cox, of Robinson, for appellees.

SHAW, Justice.

The act generally known as the Hundred Million Dollar Bond Issue Act (Smith-Hurd Ann. St. c. 121, § 281i, Cahill's Rev. St. 1933, p. 2438, c. 121, par. 198(9), provides for and describes Route 96 as follows: ‘Beginning at East Fort Madison and extending in a southerly direction to Ursa (with a suitable connection to Warsaw) affording East Fort Madison, Nauvoo, Hamilton, Warsaw, Lima, Ursa and the intervening communities reasonable connections with each other.’ This road is now completed except for a suitable connection between Nauvoo and Hamilton, which final connecting link of a little over twelve miles has been located by the Department of Public Works and Buildings between these two cities along what is known as the River road, an all-weather rock-and-gravel road which has been in existence nearly fifty years and which at the present time carries the normal traffic between the two cities. The appellants, forty interested property owners, seek by injunction to restrain the department from adhering to the location made by it, and propose and insist upon an alternative road known as the Conable road, which is a part earth and part gravel road lying from one and a half to five miles east of the River road. For this road they claim a greater utility on behalf of the people of the state at large, a greater safety, a lower original cost of construction, and a greater factor of economy and convenience in operation. It is claimed by the appellants that the advantages of the route proposed by them are so great as compared with the River road, designated by the department, that there is no question of discretion involved, and that the department is without authority, under the act, to use the road which it has selected. Upon a full consideration of the whole case, the circuit court dismissed the bill for want of equity, and it is this decision which we are asked to review.

It appears from the map in the record that the Mississippi river runs in a southwesterly direction from East Fort Madison to a point slightly west and south of Nauvoo; that it bends at this point in a southeasterly direction for a distance of four or five miles and from thence runs approximately south to the city of Hamilton. Route 96, so far as completed south of East Fort Madison, runs in a southwesterly direction for a short distance, thence directly south to a point about four miles east of Nauvoo and from thence directly west into Nauvoo. The southerly portion of Route 96, beginning at Ursa, runs approximately due north to a point west of the city of Warsaw, where a branch road runs into that city, while the main portion of Route 96 turns to the east for approximately a mile and from there runs directly north into Hamilton. The Conable road, for which the complainants contend, extends on a north and south line from a point about a mile east of Hamilton on what appears to be Route 9, to that point on Route 96 above mentioned where the road runs directly west into Nauvoo. According to the record this road could be completed along the Conable road with approximately ten miles of paving, whereas according to the route designated by the department it will require a little over twelve miles along the River road. It further appears from the evidence, and is not disputed by either party, that the River road will be more expensive to complete by approximately $190,000; that the River road will have quite a number of curves in it, some of them as much as ninety degrees, as against which the Conable road would be an approximately straight north and south line of travel. The result of the building as contended for by complainants would be to leave Nauvoo on a stub or dead-end road, such as the statute provides for Warsaw and which has been completed, would leave no direct connection between Hamilton and Nauvoo except by going east out of Hamilton on Route 9 to the junction point, thence north to the corner west of Nauvoo and thence west into the latter city. For through travel between East Fort Madison and Ursa the Conable road would be about five miles shorter than the River road, whereas for direct travel between the cities of Hamilton and Nauvoo the Conable road would be approximately five miles longer than the River road laid out by the department. It also appears from the record that the city of Nauvoo has a large historical interest for students of religion and early Americana. It was for a considerable time the home of the Mormons, headed by Joseph Smith, and many religious monuments and places are visited there every year. The estimate placed upon this number of visitors is from twenty thousand to thirty thousand per annum. It further appears that Hamilton lies at the easterly end of the well known Keokuk dam, which likewise attracts large numbers of travelers from this and...