Bridge consruction sticker shock

SPRINGFIELD -- If Illinois set out to fix every bridge and road in need of repair, the price tag would reach into the tens of billions of dollars, likely requiring a substantial tax increase.

That's the sobering financial and political reality behind the newfound push for construction spending following the collapse of a Minneapolis bridge that -- like 4,715 Illinois structures -- had been declared deficient.

"Our needs are gigantic," said state Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Hinsdale Republican. "We'll never have enough money."

The state's road building industry says $10 billion is needed to fix and build new highways and bridges. The Chicago and suburban mass transit system wants another $10 billion to bring its bus and train lines up to par and begin building for the future. Others have offered estimates topping $30 billion statewide.

Meanwhile, lawmakers have been struggling to find agreement on a plan one-third that size. The state has not had a major new investment in roads, bridges or other infrastructure in nearly eight years as economic malaise and then partisan politics stymied efforts.

On Friday, state lawmakers and officials again called for such an investment, saying the collapse in Minnesota spells out in tragic terms the need to fix up an aging Illinois transportation network.

"The bridge disaster in Minneapolis points out that we need to put aside our bickering and come up with a program that moves the state forward," said state Sen. Dale Risinger, a Peoria-area Republican and former district engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich traveled to Quincy, stood before a Mississippi River bridge, and called on lawmakers to approve nearly $10 billion in construction borrowing.

But it's not that easy. There's little agreement on how to pay it off. Construction spending works this way: the state borrows billions for projects and then pays it off, usually over 20 or 25 years.

The trick is finding political agreement on where that money should come from. Initially, Blagojevich called for a massive new tax on businesses to finance construction, education spending and a sweeping new health coverage program.

That was soundly rejected. In its place has been talk of raising cigarette taxes or expanding gambling. To date, there's been no deal and the idea of higher income taxes, charging tolls on more roads or even higher gas taxes aren't likely to find much public support.

"We want it all but we don't want to raise the money to actually do it," said Jim LaBelle, deputy director of the civic-planning organization Chicago Metropolis 2020.

Also keep in mind that the push for construction spending competes for attention in the state budget with political desires to spend more on education and health care.

All this combines to explain why there's been no recent construction plans and why politicians now find themselves mired in an overtime session unable to agree on spending and teetering on a government shutdown.

But the need for massive investments, LaBelle insists, is real.

"We are not just throwing money at projects," he said. "There are serious infrastructure needs and it affects public safety."