Kane County watching expiration date of federal transportation funds

Kane County transportation officials have Sept. 30 circled on their calendars as the day when Illinois might lose $290 million.

The current federal transportation bill will expire Wednesday unless Congress acts to extend the bill. The House and Senate are battling over a three-month extension versus an 18-month extension. Congress would like to increase transportation funding, but have not found the revenue mechanism to make it work. Meanwhile, scheduled road improvement and paychecks for the nation's transportation workers are on the line.

Kane County Deputy Transportation Director Tom Rickert said it's hard to tell what the impact to Kane County would be if the transportation bill is allowed to expire. Rickert said he's sure none of the county's top projects, such as the Stearns Road Bridge and the Longmeadow Parkway project, will be delayed in any way. The funding will simply have to come from somewhere else.

"If something is already obligated, then those funds are already obligated," Rickert said. "They'll have to look at earmarks or something for the money."

Rickert said his best guess is that projects that are only in the initial phases or engineering or have any other local funding questions may be the first to drop off the to-do list if federal funding is lost or delayed. No actual voting on what projects can move forward and what will have to wait will occur until after Wednesday, Rickert said.

"There is $290 million on the line," Rickert said. "The $290 million could be a pretty significant hit to the transportation program in the state of Illinois. My understanding is everybody is working to resolve this."