Prairie State Wire

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) have announced a new multi-year infrastructure program, which is the largest in the state’s history. The plan allocates $50.6 billion over six years to improve transportation infrastructure throughout Illinois.

The program will fund projects across all transportation modes and cover every county in Illinois. It includes $400 million designated for 223 local projects such as street and transit upgrades and improvements for bike and pedestrian access. These projects were prioritized based on submissions from local agencies including counties, cities, townships, and transit districts.

“Over the next six years, we’ll continue investing across the board in order to build the best infrastructure system in the nation – and create good jobs for Illinoisans in the process,” said Gov. Pritzker. “From Chicago and Rockford to Springfield and Decatur, to Carbondale and Metropolis, every corner of our great state will benefit.”

IDOT’s new program continues an approach initiated under Gov. Pritzker by being both comprehensive and multimodal. Investments will be made not only in roads and bridges but also in aviation, transit, freight and passenger rail, waterways, and facilities for bicycles and pedestrians. Projects are planned across state and local jurisdictions within all 102 counties. The $50.6 billion investment surpasses last year’s record of $41.4 billion.

"Under Gov. Pritzker, our investments in transportation are doing more than ever to connect people to the meaningful destinations in their lives,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Gia Biagi.  “This new multi-year construction program will not only create jobs and economic opportunity, but it will also improve quality of life in Illinois – making it easier to walk and bike, catch a bus, deliver goods, and get you safely from where you are to where you need to be.”

According to IDOT, the Fiscal Year 2026-31 Proposed Highway and Multimodal Improvement Program will allocate $32.5 billion toward state and local roads and bridges, with $5.5 billion set aside for the current fiscal year alone. An additional $18.1 billion is planned for other transportation modes: $13.8 billion for transit systems, $2.9 billion for freight and passenger rail projects, $1.2 billion for aviation initiatives, and $200 million for ports and waterways.

The highway portion of the plan will address construction or improvements on 7,107 lane miles of roads and 8.4 million square feet of bridge deck within the state system. Of these funds, $6.8 billion is earmarked for 1,654 lane miles and over 1.3 million square feet of bridge deck overseen by local governments.

A new feature this year is the allocation of $400 million through special legislative appropriation signed by Gov. Pritzker to further support local transportation needs with attention given to disadvantaged or economically distressed communities. Of the 223 awards given out, 177 are allocated for road projects, 34 for bicycle and pedestrian improvements, 10 for transit projects, and two for port initiatives. All projects are required to meet Disadvantaged Business Enterprise goals to support small businesses owned by minorities and women.

Gov. Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois capital program, enacted in 2019, remains the largest capital initiative in state history and is notable as the first to fund all transportation modes statewide.