Interstate Projects Highlight Year Four of Rebuild Illinois

Illinois is entering Year Four of Rebuild Illinois, and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced on Monday that major projects intended to improve Interstates 24 and 57 in southern Illinois are planned or underway. Ten major projects on both interstates combined represent a total investment of more than $350 million, improving safety and mobility while sustaining and creating good-paying jobs throughout the region.

“With the Rebuild Illinois capital plan, we are restoring and transforming Illinois’ aging infrastructure,” said Gov. Pritzker. “Rebuild Illinois is not only about investing in infrastructure but about investing in people and communities as well. In the coming months, IDOT will undertake projects that will ultimately create safer roads and bridges and provide jobs in southern Illinois and across the entire state.”

Of the 10 projects, two of them are scheduled to be completed in 2022 and the remaining eight to be completed in 2024 through 2028. Once everything is completed, 29 miles of I-57 will have been widened to three lanes in each direction while 35 miles of I-24 will be resurfaced.

“These projects represent another year that IDOT will be making transformational investments in southern Illinois and all across the state,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman. “Please, pardon our dust while we Rebuild Illinois. When approaching and driving through any work zone, expect the unexpected and give workers a brake. Stay patient, put down the devices and slow down.”

Passed in 2019, Rebuild Illinois is investing a total of $33.2 billion over six years into the state’s aging transportation system, creating jobs and promoting economic growth. Rebuild Illinois is not only the largest capital program in state history, but also the first that touches all modes of transportation: roads and bridges, transit, waterways, freight and passenger rail, aviation, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations.