Distributive Relationships of the A gricultural Pattern 120 
So many railroad lines intervene between National City and the Missis- 
SIPpI River that a closed conduit has been substituted for an open chan- 
nel in the construction of the Stockyards Diversion Channel. 
Although railroad fills interfere with advancing waters, thus accentu- 
ating flood conditions on the exposed sides, they have been helpful in 
functioning as levees in the protection of urban as well as rural property. 
Proximity to great railroad terminals also favors the farmers in the 
disposal of products and in the purchase of manufactured goods. 
The location of the American Bottoms with reference to great centers 
of traffic has been an important factor in providing the rural sections 
with excellent roads. All-weather roads converge on the five highway 
bridges connecting the East Side with St. Louis. A survey by the 
Ulinois Highway Department in 1936 revealed the fact that the heaviest 
_ through highway traffic” of the state, with the exception of that mov- 
ing through Chicago, passes through East St. Louis.1. The Alton- 
Edwardsville road (Route 159), the Chain of Rocks-Edwardsville road 
(Route U. S. 66), the Madison-Stallings road (Route 9), and the East 
St. Louis-Collinsville road (Route U. S. 40) are outstanding examples 
of arterial highways which incidentally serve rural communities of the 
merican Bottoms (Fig. 26). The construction and maintenance of 
all-weather roads by state and national agencies have made it possible 
for the local road commissioners to maintain in excellent condition the 
reduced mileage of dirt roads. 
Urbanization—The location and expansion of urban and suburban 
centers have taken hundreds of acres of land permanently out of agri- 
culture. As late as 1890, only a moderate encroachment on desirable 
agricultural lands had been made. Much of the area of East St. Louis 
Was poorly drained and of slight agricultural value. The development 
of Madison, Granite City, and Nameoki, especially during the present 
century, has included excellent agricultural land lying between Horse- 
shoe Lake and the Mississippi River. The lobes of settlement extend- 
ing from the compactly developed portion of East St. Louis reflect the 
location of relatively well-drained land.? 
Before 1907, the Illinois Glass Company and the Federal Lead Com- 
Pany had located industrial plants on the narrow flood plain engl 
ately adjoining the upland of Alton, and the predecessor of the Western 
Sipe ans ianciachanieccocmieiipaabewees 
‘Statement by Governor Horner at the dedication of the East St. Louis-Collinsville 
Road, October, 1936, eet 
Regional Planning, Part II, St. Louis Regton 
Si: 
National Resources Comm 
ittee, I 
(Washington: Department of the Interior, 1936), p. 17. 
