The Illinois Department of Transportation’s latest update to its six-year spending plan shows the south and southwest suburbs can expect billions of dollars in spending on roads, bridges and other projects in coming years.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled the $34.6 billion spending plan Friday at an event in Springfield. The Proposed Highway Improvement Program, also called the 2023-2028 Multi Year Plan, details $6.4 billion to build 2,500 miles or road and another $6.4 billion to build 10 million square feet of bridge deck.

Lawmakers from around the state joined Pritzker for the announcement.

“Illinois’ infrastructure must be maintained and improved for the safety of our citizens from the back roads and bridges of southern Illinois to the busy streets of the city of Chicago,” said 33rd District state Rep. Marcus C. Evans, D-Chicago, according to news coverage of the event.

Lawmakers doubled the gas tax to 38 cents per gallon from 19 cents in 2019 to help fund Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois program. Revenues from additional casino and other expanded gaming options as well as sales of cannabis for recreational use are also helping to pay for the work.

Tax dollars aren’t going as far as they did a year ago, thanks to inflation. At least one analyst estimated construction costs have increased 10% from a year ago. Costs also have increased in the past two years because of shortages of materials due to supply chain issues related to the pandemic and labor disputes.

The 1,054-page report describes dozens of proposed improvements from Lansing to Lemont and Blue Island to Beecher. Highlights include rebuilding Interstate 80 from New Lenox to Minooka in Will County and improvements to serve the so-called third airport near Peotone and Monee.

The I-80 work is expected to continue for five years and cost more than $1 billion. Crews will build new bridges to carry the interstate over the Des Plaines River near downtown Joliet.

IDOT also plans to replace a bridge that connects eastbound I-80 to the northbound Tri-State Tollway, or Interstate 294, near Hazel Crest. The state expects to spend $27.6 million on the work sometime within the next six years. IDOT budgeted nearly $300,000 in 2023 to acquire land for the project.

The state plans to pay construction and engineering contractors nearly $10 million in coming years to rebuild the Vollmer Road bridge over Interstate 57 in Matteson. A similar project to replace the Flossmoor Road overpass is pegged at a cost of about $10.5 million.

Other I-57 bridges tabbed for replacement or significant rehabs within the next few years include 183rd Street in Country Club Hills ($4.3 million) and 159th Street in Markham ($4.3 million).

Three I-80 bridges in Tinley Park are due to get face-lifts. They are at Harlem Avenue ($4 million), Oak Park Avenue ($3 million) and 183rd Street ($5.7 million). Plans call for the Oak Park Avenue bridge to be widened for a bikeway.

The state plans to spend $13 million in coming years to repave I-57 between 175th Street and the Will County line through Matteson, Richton Park and Country Club Hills. Another $7.1 million is set aside to spruce up I-80 between I-57 and Kedzie Avenue.

The Bishop Ford Freeway, or Interstate 94, is due for some tender loving care. The state has allotted more than $60 million to repave the freeway and repair or rebuild several bridges between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Chicago and 159th Street through Calumet City, Dolton and South Holland.

The six-year plan describes work planned for bridges at the Little Calumet River, 111th Street, Michigan City Road

and Greenwood Avenue. Though the work is scheduled to occur by 2028, some of projects have been carried over in the six-year plan for eight years, according to IDOT.

The plan lists nearly $200 million for a new interchange along I-57 near Eagle Lake Road to serve the proposed South Suburban Airport. Tens of millions of dollars are set aside for construction, engineering, land acquisition and utility extensions.

In addition to interstates, IDOT also plans to spend money fixing state highways, local roads and bridges. The plan includes $21.5 million to fix a half mile of Illinois Route 7, also known as Southwest Highway, between 131st and 135th streets in Palos Park.

The road routinely must be closed to traffic due to flooding. The work has been included in the six-year plan for seven years and is set to occur in 2023, according to IDOT. Costs include reconstructing the roadway, building a retaining wall, installing drainage systems, grading soil, modernizing traffic signals and improving sidewalk access for people with disabilities.

Another big project in the works is rebuilding the interchange where Harlem Avenue (Illinois 43) crosses over 95th Street in Bridgeview. The $32.6 million project includes widening the bridge, replacing a pump station and lighting. The work has been kicked down the road for 24 years, according to IDOT’s plan, but is set to start in 2023.

IDOT has allocated funds to improve such arterials as 159th Street, Halsted Street, Cicero Avenue, Sibley Boulevard and Kedzie Avenue through such communities as Orland Park, Tinley Park, Markham, Oak Forest, Orland Hills, Calumet City, South Holland, Harvey, Dolton and Dixmoor.

Making its debut in the six-year plan this year is a $38.7 million project to replace the Kedzie Avenue bridge over railroad tracks and Wireton Road near 127th Street in Blue Island.

Another project listed for the first time is a $17.2 million job to rebuild the roadway, reconstruct bridges and install a water main along Wood Street from the Little Calumet River to 159th Street through Blue Island, Riverdale, Dixmoor and Harvey. The project debuted at the front of the line, earning “red line” funding for 2023. IDOT’s plan uses red ink to highlight projects funded for the 2023 fiscal year.

Dixmoor, Blue Island and Harvey have been involved in critical water supply issues that have left Dixmoor residents high and dry on multiple occasions.

In Will County, projects include more than $171 million to build new interchanges along Interstate 55 at Airport Road and Illinois 126 near Plainfield and Joliet.

Ted Slowik is a columnist at the Daily Southtown.

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