IDOT unveils 6-year, $9.2 billion road program

The Quinn administration says it will repair 2,300 miles of road and 500 bridges over the next six years as it uses the last dollars from a massive public-works program.

The Illinois Department of Transportation announced the latest update to its road plan Monday. It calls for spending $9.2 billion by the year 2018.

That includes the last of the money from Illinois Jobs Now, a plan approved three years ago to pump money into construction projects and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. Construction work could decline sharply when the program ends.

IDOT says its latest plan provides:

• $3 billion to rebuild and improve roads
• $1.5 to repair or replace bridges
• $1.4 billion to relieve traffic congestion and
• $756 million to build new roads.