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Gov.
Blagojevich renews call for legislature to approve $10 billion
capital plan to upgrade infrastructure 
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Illinois
bridge system ranked fifth-safest in nation by Federal Highway
Administration; governor says capital investment in bridges and
roads needed to create jobs, boost economic development and improve
public safety
[August 04, 2007]
QUINCY -- Standing in
front of Quincy Memorial Bridge in Clat Adams Bicentennial Park,
Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich on Friday renewed his call to the Illinois
General Assembly to put partisan differences aside and approve a $10
billion state capital investment plan. In the wake of the tragic
bridge collapse in Minnesota, the governor called on lawmakers to
make needed investments to keep Illinois' infrastructure system
sound.
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"Illinois is fortunate to have
one of the safest bridge networks in the country," the governor
said, referring to federal statistics that show Illinois has the
fifth-safest bridge system in the U.S. "But the terrible tragedy in
Minnesota underscores what I have been saying for the last several
years. It is critical that we make major investments in our
infrastructure -- both for the health of our economy and public
safety. As we continue to negotiate the state budget in Springfield,
we need to make sure a capital plan is part of the final agreement."
Under the proposed $10 billion capital plan being discussed in
Springfield, the state would leverage additional federal funds for a
total of $22 billion for infrastructure needs. The capital
investment plan would support an estimated 694,000 jobs statewide.
The governor has proposed and lobbied for capital investment and job
creation proposals for four years, but those plans failed to gain
bipartisan support from the legislature.
"IDOT joins the governor in calling for a capital spending plan
to boost our investment in critical infrastructure," said Illinois
Department of Transportation Acting Secretary Milt Sees. "We know
that we have one of the best and safest transportation networks in
the U.S. In fact, we are a transportation hub for the nation. But we
also know that as the governor has said, we will need to make
additional investments in our infrastructure in the immediate future
in order to improve the system and pave the way to our future
prosperity in the 21st century."
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 On Thursday, Blagojevich directed IDOT and the Illinois Tollway
to immediately conduct additional inspections of critical bridges in
Illinois. Bridge inspectors from IDOT and the tollway will be
examining bridges that are similar in design to the Minnesota
bridge, are under construction or that carry high volumes over
waterways.
Critical spans, including those crossing the Mississippi River
and other major waterways, will be visually inspected immediately,
with more detailed inspections in coming days, using high-tech
equipment. Visual inspectors will be looking for general structure
alignment and anything out of the ordinary. The detailed inspections
will assess beam deterioration, determine the condition of the
connections, and identify cracks and anything that is out of
alignment.
The Illinois Tollway has 545 bridges, with 53 that span lengths
over 20 feet. The tollway has an active and aggressive maintenance
schedule. These bridges are inspected every two years in accordance
with the latest federal and state guidelines. The tollway does not
have any bridges on the system that are similar to the steel truss
bridge in Minnesota. In addition to the biennial inspections, the
tollway also provides full-time inspection of all bridges under
construction.
[Text from file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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