The Illinois Department of Transportation announced their completed projects for 2021 and a look at major projects and initiatives in 2022 and beyond. Illinois Transportation Secreatary Omer Osman says that going into 2022 the plan is to build an even safer more equitable transportation system for all of Illinois.

Through the Rebuild Illinois capital plan, IDOT was able to manage nearly $2.4 billion in improvements to 1,314 miles of highway and 142 bridges as well as 194 safety improvements in the 2021 fiscal year. IDOT broke ground on the Interstate 57/74 interchange reconstruction of Champaign-Urbana, I57 to be widened in southern Illinois and an overhaul of Interstate 80 in Will County. 

This Rebuild Illinois plan will impact all modes of Illinois transportation including roads and bridges, transit, waterways, freight and passenger rail, aviation, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. 

As far as rail services go, Amtrak trains resumed full service in July after being limited due to COVID-19. Ground was broken on some new tracks and work is being done for the Chicago-St. Louis corridor with the goal of increasing train speeds to 110 mph by 2023. 

A pollinator habitat and the monarch butterfly is a continued effort of the work of IDOT and local Montgomery County environmental groups.  This is a 10 acre prairie thats part of the Route 66 Monarch Flyway and is home to more than 200 native plant species and several types of large and small animals. The work is being called the Litchfield Route 66 Prairie.

For more on the work being done on the Rebuild Illinois Project, click here.