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ILLINOIS
DRIVERS PAY $1,119 EXTRA A YEAR THANKS TO BAD ROADS, BRIDGES
Illinois Policy Institute/
Patrick Andriesen
Illinois ranked 14th worst in the nation
for road infrastructure with 20% of state roadways non-acceptable and
12% of bridges in poor condition by federal standards. It was near last
in spending on repairs.
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 Driving on Illinois’ dilapidated roads and bridges could cost as much as $1,119
extra a year, a new study finds.
Illinois ranked 14th worst in the nation, an analysis of state road
infrastructure found. Illinois has 20% of its roads ranked non-acceptable and
12% of bridges in poor condition by Federal Highway Administration standards.
But the state came in third from last when the analysis looked at what portion
of transportation dollars Illinois spends on fixing existing roads.
Nick VinZant, a senior analyst with the QuoteWizard insurance comparison
platform, said Illinoisans pay a lot for bad roads.
“We looked at the number of non-acceptable roads, bridges that are in poor
condition, time lost to commute, efficiency, all those kinds of things, and we
were able to essentially put a dollar figure on how much bad roads are costing
drivers,” VinZant said.
Those factors cost Illinois drivers $586 a year, VinZant said. Add to that the
U.S. average of $533 more as a result of vehicle damage from bad roads, and the
grand total is $1,119.
VinZant said Illinois allocates just 4% of its transportation spending to fix
roads and bridges.
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“We looked at all the states’ transportation
dollars and what percentage of that is put into road repair, and
Illinois actually has the third-lowest amount that goes back into
road repair,” he said.
By comparison, Wyoming invests 54% of transportation dollars into
roadway repairs, saving residents $230 annually over Illinoisans.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled the state’s gas tax from 19 cents to 38
cents per gallon, with annual inflationary increases, to purportedly
fund infrastructure improvements as part of his “Rebuild Illinois”
plan. Illinoisans now pay the second-highest gas tax in the country.
Yet the QuoteWizard ranking is the second recent survey to show
Illinoisans are getting a bad deal for their tax dollars. Illinois
was ranked 40th in the nation by the Reason Foundation for
cost-effectiveness compared to conditions.
Reason researcher Baruch Feigenbaum pointed to heavy unionization
driving up labor costs combined with ineffectual state spending as
the source of the discrepancy.
Despite Illinois’ meager investments in taking care of what it
already has, the state stands to receive $17 billion during the next
several years from the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill to
fund projects.
But the problem in Illinois isn’t how much money, but rather how
poorly it is being spent. |
