CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois plans to repair more than 3,200 miles of road and replace or fix 611 bridges over the next six years as part of the latest update to the state road program announced Thursday by Gov. Pat Quinn.
"We understand that we're the transportation
capital of the United States ... and we have to invest to make sure we have
safe roads, safe bridges and great highways," Quinn said from the site of
a major road project in Chicago. The timing of the announcement was tied to a
law that required the state to announce its long-term road program, he said.
Construction costs are estimated at $11.5 billion
for an extensive list of projects, which include design work for the Illiana
Expressway from Interstate 55 in Will County to Interstate 65 in Indiana;
bridge repair work on Interstate 24 over the Ohio River near Metropolis; and
resurfacing of Illinois 128 from the Shelby County line to US 40 in Effingham
and Fayette Counties.
"Two-thirds of the program is allocated to
maintaining our existing roads and bridges with the other one-third used for
... system congestion mitigation and system expansion," state Department
of Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig said.
The road program would be paid for with federal,
state and local funds.
Other work in the construction program includes
bridge replacement on Interstate 70 over the Kaskaskia River in Fayette County,
bridge widening on Interstate 74 at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad
and Lincoln Street in Galesburg and additional lanes on U.S. 20 west of
Freeport to west of Illinois 26 in Stephenson County.
The governor's office estimated the construction
projects will create about 155,000 jobs, all part of Illinois' recovery from
the recession.
"The construction and the repair of our
highways and our bridges is very, very important for jobs in Illinois. We
believe in public works. That is a good way to get our economy back on
track," Quinn said.
But a lot of work would have been sidetracked
without the six-year $31 billion capital construction program Quinn signed in
2009. Of the new $11.5 billion program, $7.2 billion is federal money, and more
than half of the state portion — $2 billion — is from the plan called
"Illinois Jobs Now!"
An appellate court ruled in January that the
funding source for that plan is unconstitutional, a decision Quinn has appealed
to the Supreme Court. But the portion of the revenue from higher taxes on
liquor, candy, and some personal care products, continues to be collected.
"It's our belief that the courts will rule in
our favor and until someone tells me to the contrary, we're going to move
forward as quickly as we can with this road program," Hannig told
reporters later in a conference call.
Transportation officials acknowledged that a
description of the needed projects the state can't afford would "fill a
room" and Hannig said authorities are looking at alternative funding
sources. Lawmakers in both Illinois and Indiana have approved a private toll
road to build the Illiana Expressway, for example.
And the interstate highway system, the oldest parts
of which are more than half-a-century old, needs to be rebuilt, Hannig said,
and must involve federal intervention.
"A lot of these roads began and were built
under President Eisenhower," Hannig said, "and they've basically run
their useful life."
AP Political Writer John O'Connor in Springfield
contributed to this report.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
