Capital plan cash infusion bolsters $23B road plan

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration says it will put more than $3.7 billion into highway construction next year alone.

The Democrat on Monday released the annual update to the state's transportation improvement program. Pritzker says that the state will spend more than $23 billion by 2025 to fix and expand 4,200 miles (6,760 kilometers) of roadways and 9 million square feet (836,000 square meters) of bridge decks.

Pritzker says the highway improvement program is double its originally predicted size because of last summer's approval of the governor's $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital construction program.

The plan represents a departure from past practice. Officials say it prioritizes maintaining roads over time. The plan reserves 75 percent of its funds for reconstruction and road preservation.

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Multiyear program: https://bit.ly/1PmfHhe