$5 billion needed annually to maintain Illinois roads and bridges, experts say

At a April 23 DuPage County transportation summit, experts announced that Illinois needs to invest upwards of $5 billion per year in additional funding just to maintain its roads, bridges, transit systems and airports.

They added that time is running out for the state, which is already struggling with infrastructure funding. The deadline looms for legislators to act on a new measure this spring, according to the Transportation for Illinois Coalition.

The Naperville meeting, which was attended by about 250 public officials, transportation heads and business representatives, was the largest in a six-week series of statewide “listening sessions” chaired by former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and president of Southern Illinois University Glenn Poshard.

Hastert, a Yorkville Republican, and Poshard, a Democrat from Carbondale, were appointed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to plug his $25 billion public works program.

"We can sit down with the legislative leaders and the governor, around the table, and try to define the scope [of the legislation] and try to find what the revenue sources are [to fund it] and have a good bipartisan effort," Hastert said.