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Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act brings $17 billion to Illinois

President Biden unveils his $2 trillion infrastructure measure Wednesday in Pittsburgh.
Susan Montoya Bryan
/
AP
All roads lead to Congress as states and the construction industry vie for limited federal funds for infrastructure.

Illinois is set to receive $17 billion dollars from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act brings lots of opportunities to the state from Chicago to Cairo.

It includes nearly $10 billion to repair more than 6,000 miles of roads deemed to be in poor condition and $1.4 billion to repair or replace more than 2,300 bridges over the next 5 years.

State Senator Dale Fowler says with the Cairo River Port construction approaching Southern Illinois will need to be able to handle the extra traffic.

“We have the infrastructure needs to be able to blossom of for you to be able to make the improvements to our roads and bridges and you're seeing a lot of that already taking place on the state side. But to be able to have this infrastructure funding on the federal side is just going to be a caveat that that should be very exciting for all of us.”

The state will have $4 billion to improve public transportation.

Benjy Jeffords is a digital media production specialist at WSIU Public Broadcasting located at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Contact WSIU Radio at 618-453-6101 or email wsiunews@wsiu.org
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