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ILLINOIS
HIGHWAYS COME WITH HIGH COSTS, POOR CONDITIONS, REPORT FINDS
Illinois Policy Institute/
Patrick Andriesen
Taxpayers pay too much for the rough
conditions they find on Illinois roads, according to a report by the
Reason Foundation. Bad pavement and too much congestion come with upkeep
costs that are among the highest in the U.S.
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 Illinois roads ranked 40th in the
U.S. – dropping 12 spots in five years – for cost-effectiveness and conditions,
according to a report by the Reason Foundation.
Illinois’ low rank is thanks to ineffectual state spending on highways, leading
to poor pavement conditions and high congestion in urban areas, researcher
Baruch Feigenbaum said.
“Not the worst in any one category, certainly not the best in any one category,
but trending average to below average for most of the categories which explains
the ranking of 40th,” Feigenbaum said.
The Annual Highway Report scores each state across 13 categories including urban
and rural pavement conditions, traffic fatalities, administrative costs per mile
and spending per mile of highway.
The report found Illinoisans pay $123,500 per state-controlled mile of highway,
scoring 39th for total spending per mile.
Feigenbaum said that is too much for a poor return.
 “I would say overall they’re getting relatively bad bang for their buck because
there’s a relatively high level of spending and also relatively poor pavement
conditions,” Feigenbaum said. “Given the cost of Illinois, we know that the
spending is going to be a little high but the quality of the roads and bridges
should match and it doesn’t.”
Illinois is in line to receive at least $17 billion during the next several
years from the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill signed Nov. 15 by
President Biden.
“We have dollars coming to Illinois from the federal infrastructure bill,” Gov.
J.B. Pritzker said Nov. 16. “That helps speed up all of the projects on our
multi-year plan.”
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That multi-year plan Pritzker enacted in 2019,
coined “Rebuild Illinois,” doubled the state’s gas tax from 19 to 38
cents per gallon and increased other fees on drivers to fund $45
billion in infrastructure improvements.
Illinoisans now pay the second highest gas tax in the nation.
Data from the Illinois Comptroller’s office shows nearly $1.4
billion in motor fuel taxes collected in fiscal year 2019. That
revenue increased to more than $2.4 billion for fiscal year 2021.
Private vehicle use taxes also increased from $53.1 million in
fiscal year 2019 to $61.6 million in fiscal year 2021.
Reason’s most recent report is through fiscal year 2019, but does
not account for the doubling of the state’s gas tax.
Feigenbaum said Illinois needs to bring spending per mile under
control, so it does not repeat New Jersey’s doubling of a gas tax
without improving pavement conditions.
“It’s really important both for the increasing of the gas tax and
for the federal infrastructure bill that the state has a process for
actually spending that money wisely,” Feigenbaum said.
Illinois recently improved how it decides to spend transportation
dollars, with Pritzker in late August signing House Bill 253. The
new law calls for funding state infrastructure through a targeted,
merit-based approach that prioritizes renovations and helps the
greatest number of drivers – rather than based on which politician
gets a photo op next to a shiny new bridge. It is expected to
deliver better taxpayer value, similar to Virginia’s SMART Scale
program. |
