The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) recently announced it awarded $197.5 million in Illinois Competitive Freight Program funds to 22 projects that will improve freight movement.
The program is designed to implement the goals of the Illinois State Freight Plan. Successful proposals were ranked based on the plan’s goals: increasing safety, improving reliability, and boosting intermodal connections and commerce at the local level.
“For the last four years, we’ve invested billions of dollars in communities across Illinois to restore and renew all modes of transportation throughout our state: roads, bridges, airports, and transit, as well as pedestrian and bike routes,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. “These funds will be used for 22 port, rail, and highway projects in Illinois to address bottlenecks, increase mobility, and improve the supply chain up and down the state.”
Projects include $4.3 million for congestion and safety upgrades at the Kaskaskia Regional Port District, $7.2 million for expanding three interstate rest areas to add 122 parking spaces for commercial trucks, $18.8 million for a new Illinois 50 bridge over the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, and $40 million for capacity improvements at the Illinois 17 interchange with Interstate 57 in Kankakee.
A total of 1.6 billion tons of freight valued at $2.5 trillion moves in and out of Illinois annually, putting the state in the top three for freight activity.