SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration says it will put more than $3.7 billion into highway construction next year alone.
The Democrat on Monday released the annual update to the state’s transportation improvement program. Pritzker says that the state will spend more than $23 billion by 2025 to fix and expand 4,200 miles (6,760 kilometers) of roadways and 9 million square feet of bridge decks.
Pritzker says the highway improvement program is double its originally predicted size because of last summer’s approval of the governor’s $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital construction program.
The plan represents a departure from past practice. Officials say it prioritizes maintaining roads over time. The plan reserves 75 percent of its funds for reconstruction and road preservation.
