IDOT's updated roadwork plan shows funding constraints
The Illinois Department of Transportation's latest multiyear highway improvement plan is on a diet compared to previous versions.
IDOT on Tuesday released a $11.05 billion program for roads and bridges covering fiscal years 2019-2024 that includes rebuilding bridges on the Kennedy Expressway and Route 53.
A similar plan announced last year for 2018-2023 budgeted $11.65 billion, while the 2017-2022 program totaled $11.17 billion.
There are a "combination of factors to explain the slight decrease," IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell said. "A reduction in motor fuel taxes over time, winding down of previous capital programs are two of the biggest."
The state's priorities are fixing and preserving existing infrastructure, planners said. "Preservation work will focus on keeping the good pavements and bridges in a state of acceptable condition before they fall to a lower rating," they said in the report.
Previous goals of keeping roads at a 90 percent acceptable level and bridges at 93 percent acceptable were "aspirational" and "never attainable with the current levels of funding projected," planners said in the report.
Work continues to rebuild the Jane Byrne Interchange, where the Kennedy, Dan Ryan and Eisenhower expressways converge. Here's a look at other significant projects where engineering or actual construction will occur in fiscal year 2019.
• Resurfacing 38 bridges on the Kennedy Expressway between the Edens Expressway and Hubbard Street downtown.
• Reconstruction and widening of Route 47/30 between Cross Street and Galena Boulevard in Sugar Grove and Yorkville.
• Rebuilding 14 bridges on Route 53 between Rand and Algonquin roads in Arlington Heights.
• Replacing the bridge at Route 56 and Hankes Road in Kane County.
• Widening and resurfacing Route 132 between Munn Road and Deerpath Drive in Lindenhurst.
Other construction scheduled in the next six years includes:
• Drainage improvements to replace aging equipment on the Eisenhower Expressway at the Des Plaines River in Forest Park.
• Bridge replacement at Route 47 and the Kishwaukee River in McHenry County.
• Rebuilding and adding lanes on Route 22 from Quentin Road to west of Route 83 in Long Grove and Kildeer.
• Reconstructing intersections and bridges and widening Butterfield Road between Route 53 and the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355) and at Route 53 in Downers Grove.
• Rebuilding and adding lanes on Willow Road between the Des Plaines River and Waterview Parkway in Prospect Heights and Glenview.