EDINBURG, Ill. (AP) — Some $2 billion in road construction projects will be shut down July 1 in Illinois without a state budget agreement.
An Associated Press analysis of Illinois Department of Transportation data shows that collectively, work on the 19 largest projects is less than halfway done in terms of money spent. Those projects are worth more than $1 billion by themselves, and range from reconstruction of the Jane Byrne interchange in Chicago to the resurfacing of a lonely southern Illinois stretch of Interstate 57.
Transportation Secretary Randall Blankenhorn says it won’t only disrupt traffic and pose potential safety hazards. Stopping and re-starting projects would cost tens of millions of dollars in “avoidable” costs.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is hoping Democrats in the Legislature will approve stopgap funding to keep government running because the two sides have been unable to agree on spending for a second straight year.
Some of the projects by IDOT district that could be affected by the budget impasse, the contract value and the amount of work left to be done:
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District 1
— Jane Byrne Interchange reconstruction in Chicago: $156.3 million contract/$42.2 million remaining work
— Reconstruction of Interstate 55 and U.S. 41 interchange outbound ramps, new retaining walls, lighting and other related work, in Chicago: $135.7 million contract/$74.9 million remaining work
— Reconstruction and widening of U.S. 6/Illinois 7 from Interstate 355 to U.S. 45 in Will County: $105 million contract /$92.3 million remaining work
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District 2
— Bridge replacement and realignment of U.S. 52/Illinois 64 over the Mississippi River in Savannah: $81.2 million contract/$68.8 million remaining work
— Reconstruction, widening of Illinois 5 from west of 38th Street to east of 70th Street in Moline: $51.2 million contract/$47.8 million remaining work
— Reconstruction of Illinois 2 (North Main Street) from Riverside Boulevard to Auburn Street in Rockford: $32.1 million contract/$30.9 million remaining work
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District 3
— New bridge and interchange at Interstate 57 and 6000N, widening of 6000N and intersection improvements at U.S. 45/52 and Illinois 50 in Bourbonnais: $47.2 million contract/$37.2 million remaining work
— Reconstruction of Illinois 47 north of Interstate 80 in Morris to Sherrill Road, new bridges over Saratoga Creek and Valley Run Creek: $38.9 million contract/$19.3 million remaining work
— Replacing Illinois 89 over the Illinois River in Bureau County: $38.8 million contract/$34.5 million remaining work
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District 4
— Reconstruction of the Interstate 74 and Interstate 155 interchange, reconfiguration of the Interstate 74 and Morton Avenue interchange in Tazewell County: $86.6 million contract/$8.2 million remaining work
— Macomb Bypass, new highway on Illinois 336 from U.S. 67 to U.S. 136: $36.5 million contract/$33 million remaining work
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District 6
— New four-lane highway on Illinois 29 from south of Berry to south of Edinburg: $42.4 million contract/$12 million remaining work
— Pavement patching, resurfacing and safety improvements to 15 miles of Interstate 55 in Logan County: $32.7 million contract/$15 million remaining work
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District 7
— Reconstruction on Interstate 57/70 around Effingham: $62.3 million contract/$8.2 million remaining work
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District 8
— Widening Interstate 64, new bridge over I-64, new interchange at Rieder Road and improvements to Whessy Road, Shiloh Valley Township Road, Whessy Road Connector and Old Rieder Road Connector north of Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County: $36 million contract/$25 million remaining work
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District 9
— Resurfacing Interstate 57 from Old Illinois 13 to Johnson County in Williamson County: $30.1 million contract/$28.7 million remaining work
