Illinois Roads

$207 Infrastructure Plan in the Works for Illinois

June 20, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The Proposed HIghway Improvement Program, a multi-year program consisting of $20.7 billion in transportation construction funding, was recently announced for the state of Illinois by Governor J.B. Pritzker.

The program will allocate $15.84 billion to state transportation system upgrades and $4.87 billion for local system updates, and will cover the years between 2022 and 2027.

“The newest Multi-Year Plan, announced earlier this week, is a project to improve nearly 2,800 miles of road and nearly 8 million square feet of bridges,” said the Illinois Department of Transportation in a tweet.

This plan will work toward returning Illinois to its strong position as an prominent location for the transportation industry across the country.

“We are continuing to build and sustain infrastructure that gives Illinois its competitive edge and strengthens our status as the transportation hub of North America,” said Omer Osman, Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation. “This latest multi-year program means we will keep making historic improvements in our transportation system, just as we have throughout the pandemic.”

The plan seeks to bring major improvements to 2,779 miles of roadways and 7.9 million square feet of bridge deck over the next six years, with $3.3 billion being dedicated specifically to the next fiscal year. As of right now, 8.8% of Illinois’ bridges have been deemed structurally deficient by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.

In Pritzker’s plan, $5.79 billion will be allocated to roadway construction and preservation efforts, $4.82 billion will be dedicated to bridge improvements, and $2.59 billion will be given to expansion projects. Additionally, $1.43 billion will be allocated to system support efforts regarding land acquisition and engineering projects, and another $1.21 billion will be dedicated specifically to safety improvement projects throughout Illinois. Finally, for local truck route upgrades throughout the state, the plan will allocate $42 million.

2019’s infrastructure improvement initiative, called ‘Rebuild Illinois,’ will be supporting the investment needed for this plan. Rebuild Illinois aims to aid in the funding of improvements for Illinois state parks, historic sites, education, clean water infrastructure, bridges, roads, and transit.

To raise funds for Rebuilding Illinois, fuel tax rates throughout the state doubled in 2019 and rose again during 2020. As of right now, fuel tax rates in Illinois are at 46.2 cents per gallon, and 38.7 cents per gallon for gasoline.

“Illinois needs reliable infrastructure capable of moving people and goods safely across the state,” said Chicago Senator Omar Aquino. “Alleviating congestion, resurfacing roads, and rehabilitating bridges are key activities to keep economic activity and prosperity flowing across Illinois.”

Rebuild Illinois has been able to help fund a variety of infrastructure-boosting efforts–such as local truck route projects and the marine transportation system–since first coming to fruition. Now, the Multi-Year Program, as Pritzker’s plan has been nicknamed, will strive to help rebuild the state economy following the coronavirus pandemic by creating thousands of new jobs.

Additionally, Pritzker has recently announced that Amtrak’s full passenger rail services would return to the state, which had been limited until now due to COVID-19 concerns.

“I’m proud to announce that 100% normal Amtrak service will fully resume in Illinois on July 19th, two months from today,” said Pritzker recently in a tweet. “This will make it even easier for everyone to explore all that our state has to offer, supporting small businesses and small town economies along the way.”

Because nearly 5 million Illinois residents have received COVID-19 vaccines, Amtrak can return to its stations across 20 different Illinois communities and continue providing the much-need connections to St. Louis and Milwaukee, among other destinations.

“As Illinois residents begin to travel throughout the state once again, regularly, for both work and leisure following the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring our infrastructure provides safe, efficient means to do so is a top priority of mine,” said state Senator Melinda Bush.

Bush is also thrilled for the potential this plan will have to bring more employment opportunities to the state and to help strengthen Illinois’ economy after such a difficult time.

“Furthermore, the projects outlined in the plan will provide thousands of jobs for hardworking Illinoisans who have longed for a return to work,” she added.

Illinois State Police Working Alongside Truckers to Curb Distracted Driving

June 25, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

As of June 19, 2019, Illinois State Police Officers have begun taking an unconventional approach to monitoring highway safety in Chicago. Throughout this summer, don’t be surprised if you happen to see state troopers seated alongside truckers on the road. “Trooper in a Truck” is what the Illinois state police are calling the new program, which they partnered with the Illinois Trucking Association and Cadence Premier Logistics to make a possibility. Due to significant increases in the number of fatalities resulting from distracted driving all across the United States, the “Trooper in a Truck” program makes sense.

As WJOL recently reported, “the new program is helping officers spot and correct unsafe driving behaviors of passing motorists by riding in the cabs of commercial motor vehicles and watching primarily for distracted driving offenses. Troopers are able to observe the violation taking place and notify other police units ahead to take enforcement action.” Based on the initial results, the plan just might work. On a single day of working the program, on June 19^th, police were able to issue more than 20 tickets for a variety of violations including distracted driving and improper lane changes.

While the new program may be unique to Chicago, it’s important to mention that troopers have been doing this program throughout the state for roughly a year now, and for good cause. Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a total of 3,450 people died in crashes involving a distracted driver in 2016, which comes to roughly 9 people in the United States being killed each day by a distracted driver. Additionally, the CDC goes to great lengths to provide necessary information that any driver should know when it comes to distracted driving such as the types of distracted driving an individual may be practicing on the road. Such types of distractions include visual, such as taking your eyes off the road; manual, meaning taking your hands off the wheel; and cognitive, taking your mind off of driving. After seeing these three categories, it is easy to imagine just how dangerous our favorite electronic devices are when driving on the road. For example, using a cell phone while driving combines all three categories essentially rendering yourself blind while driving.

Maintaining Road Safety

Outside of Illinois with its Trooper in a Truck program, many other states have adopted stricter distracted driving laws than what Illinois currently imposes. For example, Illinois currently prohibits the use of hand-held cellphones, texting, or using other electronic devices while driving. Further, if a driver is involved in a crash resulting from a distracted driver, they may end up facing criminal penalties and incarceration. However, violators of the law will only be charged a $75 fine for their first offense, which if caught again will increase by $25 and eventually be capped at $150. On the other hand, states with similar driving laws have actually imposed far stricter penalties if caught with a cell phone. For example, in 2017, Oregon unveiled a new distracted driving law that fines individuals $1,000 for a first offense, with a maximum fine of $2,000. While it is clear that each state handles driver safety differently, you would be hard pressed to find someone willing to risk paying $1000 for using their cell phone while driving. All of this goes to say that distracted driving is an issue. State’s are adopting these new rules for good reasons and we need to make certain that we do our best to follow them.

Tips for Drivers

With Trooper in a Truck now making its way to Chicago, it is safe to say we can all expect our actions on the road to be watched much more closely. This isn’t a bad thing though. Chicagoans should be practicing safe driving no matter what. However, this is a great time to finally get yourself to put the phone away for good and practice additional safe driving tips. The Associated Press reported in April of 2019 that Floow, “a telematics-based provider of smarter and safer mobility solutions has studied billions of journey miles to identify a number of key behaviors that have a significant impact on driver safety.” As a result of their tests, Floow put together a list of driver safety tips and best practices that if done properly, will certainly result in safer roads. See below for their list:

Put your cell phone out of arm’s reach. If you can’t grab it while you’re driving, you’ll get in the habit of waiting to answer your phone when it’s safe.
If you must talk, do it hands-free. Some cities and states have banned texting while driving altogether. Either way, a hands-free Bluetooth device is the safer way to go.
Secure your mobile device. Put your cell phone in the glove compartment or some other place where it’s securely stowed. The Floow’s crash testing shows that a free-flying mobile device can cause further damage or injury during a collision.
Pick a safe time to travel. Studies indicate that you are statistically more likely to have an accident between 11pm and 7am than at any other time of day. Planning ahead and choosing a responsible travel time will minimize risk.
Take regular breaks during long journeys. The longer you drive, the harder it is to stay alert. During a longer trip, take a quick refresher break every two hours.
Consider the speed limit as a guide, not a target. All driving conditions aren’t equal. When the weather is bad, or the driving conditions are less-than-desirable, slow down to allow for a greater breaking distance.
Drive smoothly. Aggressive acceleration and deceleration are both potentially dangerous. The smoother you drive, the greater your reaction times will be.

Illinois budget: Drivers advised to use caution as construction resumes

July 7, 2017 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Crews and workers are expected back today

After more than two years, Illinois lawmakers ended the longest state budget impasse in modern history, overriding Governor Bruce Rauner’s veto attempt of budget-related legislation. The money and the votes didn’t come easy, and there will be residual effects.

We’re not talking about the $5 billion tax increase. In the short-term, we’re talking about state roads. As we noted last month, roughly 900 statewide construction and transportation projects worth $3.3 billion had been put on hold while the budget was in limbo. On July 1 the Illinois Department of Transportation warned that the shutdown would impact “highway, rail, transit, and aeronautics projects.” On July 4, as tense negotiations inched forward at a strained pace, the department updated its website to say that construction would stay suspended.

Yesterday, the IDOT updated its site yet again to announce that construction will resume today now that a budget is in place. But it also warned the public to be especially cautious traveling in or around work zones, as projects rev up, traffic slows, and nearly 22,000 workers affected by the stoppage are put back to work.

That means: Keeping an eye out for workers, construction crews and vehicles, and anyone in orange vests. The delay of a state budget forced state-funded crews and contractors to abandon all construction sites, no matter the condition. Highways that were once saturated with people putting in long hours went dark for a week, and it’s likely that motorists grew accustomed to that. Now that workers are back, drivers should expect slower speed zones and more congestion as construction gets back on track.

Also be aware of: Construction zones that are technically active, but have yet to see crews on site. The state budget doesn’t necessarily mean that all contractors are obligated or have sorted through the logistics of scheduling or assignments. Some sites may take priority over others, leaving voids in certain areas. Active construction or not, drivers are required to obey all traffic signs and speeds while traveling through work zones and to stay alert.

Construction areas and interstates to know: As noted by the IDOT in recent weeks for pothole patching utility work, bridge repair work, and other closures: I-55, I-72, I-80, I-57, I-280, which have seen construction at various points of the interstate; check the IDOT’s Twitter for real-time updates.