Illinois Allocates $50.6B for Largest Infrastructure Program in State History

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation announced the largest multi-year infrastructure program in state history, totaling $50.6 billion.

The funds are spread out over six years, benefiting every Illinois county across all modes of transportation. The supported projects include roads and bridges, aviation, transit, freight and passenger rail, waterways, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations.

“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,” Illinois Transportation Secretary Gia Biagi said in a statement.

The Fiscal Year 2026-31 Proposed Highway and Multimodal Improvement Program allocates:

• $32.5 billion to state and local roads and bridges
• $13.8 billion to transit
• $2.9 billion to freight and passenger rail
• $1.2 billion to aviation
• $200 million to ports and waterways

The program will build or improve 7,107 miles of state roads and 8.4 million feet of bridge deck on the state system. It also covers 1,654 miles of local roads and 1.3 million feet of bridge deck managed by localities.

Notable projects include connecting Chicago and the Quad Cities via passenger rail; airports in the Metro East, Lansing, Rockford, Whiteside County and Peoria; and a Chicago Transit Authority training and control center facility.

A portion of the program’s funds go to disadvantaged or economically distressed communities. These grants benefit 177 roads, 34 bike and pedestrian improvements, 10 transit upgrades and two ports. All projects must work with small, local minority- and women-owned firms.

“We want often overlooked communities to flourish,” State Rep. Camille Lilly said in a statement. “Rebuild Illinois will be a key factor in accomplishing this mission by restoring our state’s structure, ultimately helping families save their well-earned money, while building equitable communities that will thrive for years to come.”

The funding is largely made possible by bipartisan legislation dubbed Rebuild Illinois. Passed in 2019, the capital program has funded approximately $20.8 billion statewide improvements on 21,309 highway miles, 815 bridges and 1,181 additional safety upgrades.

Sources: Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Office of the Governor, WIFR