Illinois road plan focuses on maintenance and repair

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Cement mixers and road-graders will continue to lag behind Illinois' deteriorating roads and bridges as Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration announced a hold-the-line transportation-improvement program that focuses on maintenance.

The $11.2 billion, six-year program released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Transportation is actually rosier than expected. Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn reported that a newly approved federal highway plan will add $1 billion. And a trend toward lower motor-fuel tax revenues because of more efficient automobiles appears to be reversing.

The plan anticipates maintaining 2,500 miles of highways and replacing or rehabilitating 500 bridges. A program for railroads and mass transit will be released later.

But Blankenhorn warns it does nothing to get the state ahead. By the 2022 end of the program, the percentage of roads and bridges deemed "acceptable" will dip further.

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Transit plan: http://1.usa.gov/1U9Dptm