Public comment sought on proposed Illinois 97 widening and other improvements near Springfield

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[February 12, 2021]   

 

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Transportation is inviting the public to learn more and comment about proposed safety and capacity improvements to Illinois 97 west of Springfield. The proposed $86.5 million project is made possible by Gov. JB Pritzker’s historic and bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital program.

Instead of hosting a regular public meeting, IDOT will share information on the project and encourage participation through a website beginning Thursday, Feb. 11. At idot.illinois.gov/projects/il-97-expressway.html, the public can review project details, view presentations and provide IDOT with questions. Any comments received before March 1 will become part of the official public record.

The project proposes to realign and expand Illinois 97 to four lanes from Veterans Parkway to west of the Illinois 97/Illinois 125 junction. The preferred alternative bypasses the town of Bradfordton to the north and replaces the Sangamon Valley Trail and Prairie Creek structures. New signalized intersections would be built at Bradfordton Road and the Illinois 97/Illinois 125 junction. Construction is tentatively scheduled to start in the middle years of IDOT’s current FY21-26 multiyear plan and will take approximately four years to complete.

The improvements are necessary due to congestion, crash history and frequency, as well as flooding at Prairie Creek. Planning for project began in the 1990s but was only able to advance to the design and construction phases once funding was identified with the passage of Rebuild Illinois in 2019.

Over the next six years, IDOT is planning to improve more than 3,300 miles of highway and 8.4 million square feet of bridge deck as part of the Rebuild Illinois, which is investing $33.2 billion into all modes of transportation. Year One included approximately $2.7 billion of improvements statewide on 1,706 miles of highway and 128 bridges along with 228 additional safety improvements.

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