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.

$15 million will be invested in the construction of two downstate Illinois manufacturing training academies, as announced recently by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

This funding comes as a boost to the state’s manufacturing workforce, and will aim to help Illinois locals gain easier opportunities within advanced manufacturing careers and have boosted access in regards to developing the skills necessary for such employment.

“I’m proud to announce the winning projects of a $15 million Rebuild Illinois investment to establish two new downstate manufacturing training academies, [Southwestern Illinois College] in the Metro East and Heartland CC and Rivian here in Normal,” tweeted Pritzker.

The two academies–which will be located at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville and Heartland Community College in Normal– will start enrolling new students as soon as this year, announced Pritzker, along with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Jumping into these career possibilities as soon as possible is key for these students, explained the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s acting director, Sylvia Garcia.

“As the electric vehicle industry and other advanced manufacturing roles see increasing demand in Illinois, we are preparing to seize those jobs with investments made across our communities and to maintain our state as a top destination for companies to grow and invest,” she said.

$7.5 million of this funding will be allocated to Heartland Community College to aid the development of its Electric Vehicle/Energy Storage Manufacturing Training Academy. These efforts are in collaboration with Rivian, an electric vehicle manufacturer, and the college will match state funds up to $1.5 million for the development of an electric vehicle manufacturing training-based auto shop–an effort set to bring in around 1,600 jobs by 2023.

“HCC will be the home of the Electric Vehicle/Energy Storage Systems (EVES) Manufacturing Training Academy,” said Heartland Community College in a tweet. “HCC received a grant from the Illinois DCEO and a commitment in private funding from regional partners, including Rivian.”

The future of clean energy possibilities relies on programs like these, which offer students the opportunities and training they need to be ready for the industry upon graduation, explained Rivian’s vice president of public policy and chief regulatory counsel, James Chen.

“This project will help prepare local workers for the well-paid technical jobs that the clean energy transition requires,” he said.

Chen also noted that these efforts align strongly with his company’s goals to help this industry reach its full potential, which starts at the hands of educated, forward-thinking individuals.

“This project also reflects Rivian’s core values of community empowerment, innovation, and a strong foundation for the continued growth and success of the electric vehicle industry,” he added.

The remaining funding will be funneled into a manufacturing-focused education hub to be implemented at Southwestern Illinois College, which will break ground as soon as this year and open to students by 2022. The Advanced Manufacturing Center will also include career training services for students, with opportunities within welding manufacturing and the industrial electricity industry. Additionally, the college’s program will bring about boosted efforts to recruit women and other minorities in order to adequately address industry equity concerns.

“One of Southwestern Illinois College’s primary goals is to train students for well-paying, highly-skilled, in-demand career fields, and the construction of a manufacturing training academy will bolster these efforts,” explained Nick Mance, President of Southwestern Illinois College.

Mance added that these funds will bring direct positive impact to the state of Illinois’ economic development–including to the boost that it has needed following challenges brought about from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In light of the unemployment rate and economic distress in the area, it is more crucial than ever that students embark on a viable career pathway that leads directly to steady employment paying a living wage or better,” he said.

This funding comes from Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois plan, which was approved in 2019 as an effort to improve overall state infrastructure and allocate funds to projects working to rebuild, repair, or boost state parks, historic sites, roads, bridges, education, clean water infrastructure, and transit. For the funding of Rebuild Illinois, Illinois saw doubled fuel tax rates in 2019, which continued to rise in 2020.

$207 Infrastructure Plan in the Works for Illinois

Governor Pritzker Announces $15 Million to be Allocated to Illinois Manufacturing Training