Peabody Energy moved heavy mining equipment from the Cottage Grove Mine across state Route 13 to its new mine Monday, a project that involved creating a dirt wall over the highway.
To protect the highway’s pavement the mine covered a portion of the roadway between College Road and Old Route 13 with dirt and lumber and Illinois Department of Transportation closed the highway between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. An electric line placement was also installed Monday.
The Saline County Sheriff’s Office and Illinois State Police were on the scene helping with traffic during the project.
Residents of Rocky Branch were also on scene protesting the movement of equipment. Glenn Kellen stood at the intersection of Old Route 13 and College Road with signs reading “Support Community Not Peabody” and “Clean water for Saline!!!” The new strip mining area is near enough to homes in the Rocky Branch Community residents have resisted the mine’s efforts, though mine preparatory work has been ongoing for the past few months.
According to Saline County Sheriff Keith Brown the highway was reopened by 3 p.m. as scheduled and there were no problems. One element of excitement involved the transport of a mobile home over Old Route 13, but the transport went smoothly.
“All was good the best I could tell,” Brown said.
Today, Tuesday, Aug. 26 Old Route 13 is also to be closed between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to move equipment across that roadway.
