WASHINGTON DC (October 13, 2022) — Representative Cheri Bustos (IL-17) has announced that Illinois will receive more than $2.25 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law to improve roads, bridges, and tunnels across the state.
“Thanks to President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, we’re making historic investments to build safer, stronger and smarter roadways right here in Illinois,” said Rep Bustos. “This investment in our roads, bridges, and tunnels will lower car-repair costs, slash commute times, reduce gas usage and pollution, and support good-paying, union jobs in our local communities. I’m proud to have helped bring these investments home, and I will continue partnering with our state and local leaders to put these funds to work in Northwest and Central Illinois.”
Decades of underinvestment has left Illinois’ roads, bridges, and tunnels in poor condition: Causing longer commute times, higher car-maintenance costs, and more pollution in neighborhoods throughout the state. Nationwide, the United States ranks thirteenth globally in the quality of our infrastructure, and the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the condition of US infrastructure a C-.
Pres Biden and Congress enacted the bipartisan infrastructure law to help rebuild our nation while continuing to power America’s strong, steady economic recovery. This law included the single-largest dedicated investment in surface-transportation infrastructure since the construction of the Interstate Highway System: Creating good-paying jobs while improving the safety and efficiency of our roadways. Two-hundred House Republicans voted against this bipartisan law.
The federal funding for Illinois comes from twelve initiatives under the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration for the upcoming fiscal year. Illinois’ allocation is part of a nearly $60 billion tranche from the Department of Transportation to support critical infrastructure in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Each state and territory will have the flexibility to determine how these funds can best address longstanding needs.
Communities across the country are already feeling the transformative impact of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law:
- The Bridge Formula Program has supported repairs on over 2,400 bridges;
- The Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Formula Program has funded over $200 million of projects in 21 states;
- The Highway Safety Improvement Program supported improvements on more than 5,300 projects, including a total of 155 roundabout projects throughout the country that will reduce the number of traffic conflict points; and
- The National Highway Performance Program has funded more than 6,000 projects to improve safety and efficiency.
