* Governor JB Pritzker…

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) joined state and local leaders, labor and transportation stakeholders today to announce the largest multi-year [2026-2031] program to build and repair infrastructure in state history: $50.6 billion over six years, continuing an unprecedented investment in safety, mobility and quality of life made possible by the Governor’s Rebuild Illinois capital program. The new program, spread across all modes of transportation and touching every Illinois county, also includes $400 million to support 223 local projects. These projects, ranging from street and transit upgrades to bike and pedestrian improvements, are based on priorities submitted by counties, cities, townships, transit districts and other local agencies. ​[…]

Continuing an approach started under Governor Pritzker, IDOT’s new multi-year program is both comprehensive and multimodal, with investments in roads and bridges, aviation, transit, freight and passenger rail, waterways, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. Projects are across state and local jurisdictions and in all 102 counties. The $50.6 billion eclipses the previous record of $41.4 billion set last year. […]

The Fiscal Year 2026-31 Proposed Highway and Multimodal Improvement Program will invest $32.5 billion in state and local roads and bridges, with $5.5 billion identified for the current fiscal year. A total of $18.1 billion is programmed for other modes, which includes $13.8 billion for transit, $2.9 billion for freight and passenger rail, $1.2 billion for aviation, and $200 million for ports and waterways.

On the highways side, the program will build or improve 7,107 lane miles of roads and 8.4 million square feet of bridge deck on the state system, with $6.8 billion identified for 1,654 lane miles and more than 1.3 million square feet of bridge deck overseen by local governments. […]

New to this year’s multi-year program is $400 million made available through special legislative appropriation and signed by Governor Pritzker to help further address local transportation needs, with consideration given to disadvantaged or economically distressed communities. Of the 223 awards, 177 are for roads, 34 for bike and pedestrian improvements, 10 for transit, two for ports. All projects required a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise goal to uplift small, local minority- and women-owned firms.

* Lots of money will be heading toward rail and transit projects. From the breakdown of statewide multimodal projects…

RAIL:

• $25.2 million for the 10th Street corridor consolidation of passenger and freight rail in Springfield.
• $19.9 million for improving traffic flow with four major projects in the CREATE program within the 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project.
• $183 million to improve a 1.9-mile segment of the Union Pacific Railroad, north of Rockwell Avenue in Chicago. Part of the CREATE program.
• $388.8 million for re-establishing passenger rail service between Chicago and the Quad Cities with a new intermediate stop in Geneseo.
• $270 million to re-establish passenger rail service between Rockford and Chicago.
• $98 million for safety and reliability improvements on Amtrak’s Saluki service between Chicago and Carbondale.

TRANSIT:

• $3.9 million to relocate a bus transfer facility for the city of Quincy.
• $10.8 million for Metra Ties & Ballast MET replacement of cross ties, switch ties and ballast on the Milwaukee District, Metra Electric, Rock Island District and SouthWest Service lines.
• $3.2 million for up to five projects in the Metra Bridge Rehabilitation Program.
• $175 million for the Chicago Transit Authority Training and Control Center Operations.
• $7.6 million for the Chicago Transit Authority Elevated Track Systemwide Project.
• $3.8 million for the Pace Pulse 95th Street Construction, including stations, vertical markers and other elements of the 12.4-mile corridor.
• $7.4 million for the Pace Pulse Halsted Street Construction, including stations, vertical markers and other elements of the 9-mile corridor.
• $8 million for microtransit/paratransit operations and workforce development facility at the Bloomington-Normal MTD (Connect Transit).
• $3 million for a new administration and maintenance facility in Effingham County.
• $127 million of the Metrolink Extension from Shiloh-Scott station to Mid America Airport.
• $4.2 million for the purchase of six 40-foot expansion buses in the city of DeKalb.
• $6 million for the purchase of six replacement zero-emission buses in the Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District.
• $11.6 million for City of Decatur Public Transit’s new turnkey Microtransit operations.

* In case you’re wondering about those Rock Island County buses…

* Bloomberg | Why US Cities Pay Too Much for Transit Buses: A new research paper, “Paying Less for Public Transit Buses,” offers a set of answers for the inconsistent and exorbitant prices that public transportation agencies pay for new equipment. The authors conclude that the US bus market is plagued by inefficiencies arising from overzealous vehicle customizations as well as a shortage of domestic suppliers and a ban on foreign competition. “We privilege incumbents,” said Harvard economics professor Edward L. Glaeser, part of the study team and the author of Triumph of the City, a celebration of urban economic vibrance. “We don’t actually allow competition to do its magic.”