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Baseball is back and 2020 starts to feel a little bit closer to normal. While I doubt the Cardinals are championship contenders, I'm confident they'll outpace the Cubs. On the southside, the future for the White Sox is looking bright "next year", as Cubby fans are so quick to say.
$21.3 Billion Roads and Bridges Improvement Plan Funded by Rebuild Illinois
Governor JB Pritzker visited my old IDOT District 8 stomping grounds in Collinsville this week. The purpose of the Governor's visit was to announce the release of a $21.3 billion plan to improve Illinois roads and bridges over the next six years. IDOT's MYP will provide funding to rebuild over 3,300 miles of roads and over 8 million square feet of bridges.
The first year of the plan includes $3.15 billion. This is almost 50% higher than yearly spending prior to the Illinois Chamber support Rebuild Illinois Plan.
This spending could be increased in Congress passes much-needed infrastructure bills (more on this below).
Part 3, what's happening in D.C?
On September 30th, the last federal surface-transportation reauthorization, the FAST Act, expires. The Illinois Chamber has urged Congress to provide for new and sustainable federal transportation investment to prevent further decline. Our friends at the US Chamber of Commerce have put together a great legislative toolkit on this issue that we recommend you check out here (
https://www.uschamber.com/infrastructure-advocacy-toolkit
).
Bridge Bundling
Yesterday afternoon, IDOT held a meeting regarding the desirability of bride bundling for Illinois. For the unfamiliar, bridge bundling is the practice of issuing a single contract for the replacement, rehabilitation, or repair of multiple bridges in the state. The idea is bridge bundling would take advantage of economies of scale to reduce costs. Nearby states saw significant savings when undertaking this process. Missouri saved 42% and Ohio saved 15%.
The Illinois Chamber encourages IDOT to adopt this commonsense practice. If you'd like to help, please take this
survey
It only takes 5 minutes.
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