“While our transportation needs in Illinois are dire and all-encompassing, the fact that federal dollars are coming to the state to modernize our infrastructure, that means thousands of good-paying jobs,” said Johnson.  “The Illinois workforce will spend the next decade improving our roads and bridges, constructing biking and walking paths, upgrading our rail systems and working generally on improvements to our entire transportation and infrastructure network.  This state is a national hub of transportation with multiple cross-country Interstates passing through, numerous airports, an important river network and a substantial rail system.”

For Illinois, TEA LU would provide a total of $9.28 billion in formula highway funds and $3.39 billion in formula transit funds.   Under TEA-21, the current authorization, Illinois received $5.56 billion in highway funds and $1.95 billion in transit funds.  Nationally, TEA LU increases federal funding for transportation by 72 percent.  This bill does not include a revenue or funding title.

“While this bill continues to fund American transportation, now at a higher level, it also offers some new initiatives that have not been included in past transportation funding acts,” said Johnson.  “Some of the new elements: a High-Risk Rural Roads Safety Improvement program that will likely reduce the number of accidents on rural roads, a Transit Intensive program that will recognize public transit systems in small cities that are exceeding industry averages in providing transit services to their communities, a Safe Routes to School program that offers encouragement to communities to adopt strategies that would protect our children who bicycle and walk to their school, and a Projects of National and Regional Significance program that offers federal dollars based on merit to fund construction of large and expensive infrastructure projects that have national or regional benefits.”

On a national scale, TEA LU would pour $375 billion into our national infrastructure needs.  It categorizes those needs into; congestion relief, safety, freight mobility, public transportation, and national infrastructure needs.  Illinois is well positioned to benefit greatly from this bill due to its significance as a hub of national transportation.

Johnson continued, “These are just a sampling of what TEA LU has to offer.  I look forward to working with my colleagues over the next several months on drafting a final bill for American transportation needs.  In the meantime, I will continue to work hard for my constituents who regularly share with me a problem they have with local infrastructure.  Once passed, the bipartisan bill will hopefully solve many of our existing transportation problems.”