LeROY - LeRoy businesses and city officials hope new signs telling Interstate 74 drivers how to get to their town will limit the economic hardship caused by an ongoing detour around damaged highway bridges.

Six LeRoy businesses near the Interstate 74 exit said business has fallen since a July 7 accident cut off westbound I-74 and reduced the eastbound side to one lane.

A gasoline tanker overturned and burned on the westbound bridge over Kickapoo Creek, just west of the Downs exit, and Illinois Department of Transportation officials said it will be several months before the westbound bridge is repaired and reopened.

The eastbound bridge, which also was damaged, will be restricted to one lane for four to six weeks. When it reopens, westbound traffic is expected to be rerouted to share that bridge.

In the meantime, I-74 traffic is being rerouted on U.S. 136 and U.S. 51, bypassing Downs and LeRoy.

The Downs Travel Mart has had to lay off employees since the crash because business has dropped off, said Karen Anderson, vice president of operations of United Oil, the store's owner. That is bad news for Downs, she said, because most retail sales tax revenue comes from the Travel Mart, and July and August are the busiest months for highway travel.

"On the day of the tragic accident, we were very busy," she said. "By midnight that night, the traffic had been routed to Heyworth. Now we are losing about $10,000 a day.

"So, if the interstate is closed for 30 days that is $300,000 we won't be able to recoup."

IDOT buys diesel fuel there, and that helps, she said.

To limit the economic loss, several LeRoy businesses have erected temporary signs on U.S. 136 to direct people to the LeRoy road, which intersects U.S. 136 just west of I-74.

The City of LeRoy has ordered a billboard to be erected on the westbound side of I-74 about two miles east of Farmer City and about seven miles from the U.S. 136 exit.

The billboard will provide directions on how to get to LeRoy from the detour route.

The billboard also will list several local businesses. The goal is to have this sign installed as soon as the sign company can make it, possibly by the end of July.

The city also has asked IDOT for additional signs.

The city also has asked for help from te McLean County Economic Development Commission, state Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, and state Rep. Keith Sommer, R-Morton.