CHICAGO, IL — Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) joined state and local leaders, along with labor and transportation stakeholders, to announce the largest multi-year program to build and repair infrastructure in state history. The program will provide $50.6 billion over six years, continuing an unprecedented investment in safety, mobility, and quality of life made possible by the Governor’s Rebuild Illinois capital program. The new program, spread across all modes of transportation and touching every Illinois county, also includes $400 million to support 223 local projects. These projects, ranging from street and transit upgrades to bike and pedestrian improvements, are based on priorities submitted by counties, cities, townships, transit districts, and other local agencies.
“I’m proud to launch the latest roadmap — the largest in the history of the Illinois Department of Transportation,” Pritzker said. “Over the next six years, we’ll continue investing across the board in order to build the best infrastructure system in the nation — and create good jobs for Illinoisans in the process. From Chicago and Rockford to Springfield and Decatur, to Carbondale and Metropolis, every corner of our great state will benefit.”
Continuing an approach started under Governor Pritzker, IDOT’s new multi-year program is both comprehensive and multimodal, with investments in roads and bridges, aviation, transit, freight and passenger rail, waterways, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. Projects are across state and local jurisdictions and in all 102 counties. The $50.6 billion eclipses the previous record of $41.4 billion set last year.
"Under Governor Pritzker, our investments in transportation are doing more than ever to connect people to the meaningful destinations in their lives,” Illinois Transportation Secretary Gia Biagi said. “This new multi-year construction program will not only create jobs and economic opportunity, but it will also improve quality of life in Illinois — making it easier to walk and bike, catch a bus, deliver goods, and get you safely from where you are to where you need to be.”
The Fiscal Year 2026-31 Proposed Highway and Multimodal Improvement Program will invest $32.5 billion in state and local roads and bridges, with $5.5 billion identified for the current fiscal year. A total of $18.1 billion is programmed for other modes, which includes $13.8 billion for transit, $2.9 billion for freight and passenger rail, $1.2 billion for aviation, and $200 million for ports and waterways.
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On the highways side, the program will build or improve 7,107 lane miles of roads and 8.4 million square feet of bridge deck on the state system, with $6.8 billion identified for 1,654 lane miles and more than 1.3 million square feet of bridge deck overseen by local governments.
“Funding these projects is a valuable investment that will create jobs, make it easier for Illinoisans to get where they need to go, and further cement our status as the transportation center of the country,” Senate President Don Harmon said.
New to this year’s multi-year program is $400 million made available through special legislative appropriation and signed by Pritzker to help further address local transportation needs, with consideration given to disadvantaged or economically distressed communities. Of the 223 awards, 177 are for roads, 34 for bike and pedestrian improvements, 10 for transit, and two for ports. All projects required a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise goal to uplift small, local minority- and women-owned firms.
“On behalf of the hardworking men and women of the union building and construction trades, I want to thank Governor Pritzker for his continued leadership and commitment to strengthening Illinois’ infrastructure workforce,” said Mike Macellaio, President of the Chicago & Cook County Building & Construction Trades Council. “We are proud to stand with the Governor as he invests in projects that support good jobs and stronger communities.”
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To acknowledge and salute the skilled trades that will be delivering the historic program for Illinoisans, Pritzker announced the new multi-year program at the training center for the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) on Chicago’s West Side. Under his administration, labor has been making transformational impacts to infrastructure throughout the state through the bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital program, which has completed approximately $20.8 billion of improvements statewide on 21,309 lane miles of highway, 815 bridges, and 1,181 additional safety improvements.
“Governor Pritzker recognizes the critical need to modernize Illinois’ infrastructure, and we appreciate his steadfast leadership,” said James P. Connolly, Business Manager of the LIUNA Chicago Laborers’ District Council. “Our members are ready to put this historic investment to work building a stronger economy and brighter future for communities across the state.”
Passed in 2019, Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois is not only the largest capital program in state history, but also the first one that touches all modes of Illinois transportation: roads and bridges, transit, waterways, freight and passenger rail, aviation, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations.
