{"id":42816,"date":"2026-07-21T10:24:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T15:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=42816"},"modified":"2026-07-21T10:45:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T15:45:24","slug":"how-illinois-road-fund-will-help-fund-transit-especially-in-the-chicago-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/42816-how-illinois-road-fund-will-help-fund-transit-especially-in-the-chicago-region\/","title":{"rendered":"How Illinois&#8217; Road Fund Will Help Fund Transit, Especially in the Chicago Region"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By JACQUES ABOU-RIZK &amp; AMY L. WONG<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Medill Illinois News Bureau\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"mailto:news@capitolnewsillinois.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">news@capitolnewsillinois.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Article Summary<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A new state transit law redirects revenue from the state\u2019s motor fuel tax and interest from the Road Fund \u2013 funding historically used to fix roads \u2013 to public transportation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The money aims to stabilize Chicagoland public transit as pandemic-era funding runs dry.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Republican and downstate legislators argue the shift will hurt efforts to improve Illinois\u2019 roads.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bill allows Chicago transit to avoid fare hikes this year, but critics argue the bill permits transit agencies to avoid necessary reforms and efficiencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SPRINGFIELD \u2014 In Dallas City, a small town in western Illinois along the Mississippi River, Mayor Kevin Six says residents have grown frustrated wondering whether the state will ever finish paving Illinois Highway 96.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey just paved six miles between our town and the next, but we\u2019ve been waiting four, five years for more of it to be repaved,\u201d Six said. \u201cThey\u2019re just dragging their feet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Illinois Department of Transportation included $7 million for six miles of resurfacing and culvert work on Illinois 96 in its October multi-year plan. The years of the project are listed for 2027-2031.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Six said his frustrations only intensified following the veto session of the General Assembly last fall and passage of a transit bill that diverted funds traditionally used for road construction throughout the state and put them toward public transportation, mostly in the Chicago area.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Downstate officials have aired frustration in the aftermath of the transit overhaul \u2013 though the Illinois Department of Transportation maintains that its multi-year plan unveiled prior to the new law\u2019s passage will not be reduced or altered because of it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Kristi Sandschafer, Program Development Engineer for IDOT District 7, headquartered in Effingham, confirmed Monday in a phone conversation with our Greg Sapp that all of the funding for the Fayette Avenue project in Effingham remains in the road plan. Sandschafer and IDOT&#8217;s Paul Wappel in Springfield said the funding remains. Sandschafer told us in May that further work on the Fayette project will not resume until land acquisition is completed.<\/p>\n<p><b>Read more:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/lawmakers-approve-1-5b-transit-funding-package-without-statewide-tax-increases\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lawmakers approve $1.5B transit funding package without statewide tax increases<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilga.gov\/legislation\/BillStatus?GAID=18&amp;DocNum=2111&amp;DocTypeID=SB&amp;LegId=161644&amp;SessionID=114\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senate Bill 2111<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which passed in the final hours of the last day of the session, included $1.5 billion in transit funding. That includes redirecting a projected $860 million in sales tax revenue charged on motor fuels from the Illinois Road Fund to public transportation operations. The bill, which will take effect in June, distributes 85% of the diverted funds to Chicago-area transit and 15% to downstate transit agencies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Road Fund is a primary statewide account used to pay for or finance road projects through the Illinois Department of Transportation. Many road projects are paid for with construction bonds, and the state\u2019s motor fuel tax increases with inflation each year to raise revenue to pay for them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Road Fund is fed into by the state\u2019s motor fuel tax, which is separate from the sales tax charged on motor fuel taxes. Before 2019\u2019s Rebuild Illinois capital infrastructure plan, the sales tax on motor fuel was going to the state\u2019s main General Revenue Fund, rather than to the Road Fund.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rebuild, which was the first comprehensive, multi-year capital plan since 2009, created an incremental shift of that money to the Road Fund, which the new law will alter. Pritzker received bipartisan support for the plan, in large part because it shifted the sales tax money on motor fuel purchases to the Road Fund.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new law also allows another estimated $200 million from interest growing in the state\u2019s Road Fund to be allocated for mass transit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That money will patch public transportation budget holes in the northern part of the state caused in large part by pandemic-era federal aid running dry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pritzker <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/pritzker-signs-1-5b-plan-to-overhaul-public-transportation-avoid-service-cuts\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">signed SB 2111<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on Dec. 16. The plan does not include any statewide tax increases but raises a sales tax in the Chicago area.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Existing road infrastructure plans<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The governor defended the redistribution of transportation funding shortly after his signing of SB 2111.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe have put more money into downstate roads than we have into the Chicago area roads, much more than historically. That\u2019s just been the way it is since we passed Rebuild Illinois,\u201d Pritzker said during an announcement. \u201cWe definitely are looking at ways that we can turn the dials and make it better for downstate, but I think we\u2019ve done a lot already.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Read more: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/heres-whats-in-illinois-50-6b-six-year-infrastructure-plan\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s what\u2019s in Illinois\u2019 $50.6B six-year infrastructure plan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The state\u2019s latest $50.6 billion infrastructure plan expands on the 2019 Rebuild Illinois capital program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For FY 2026 to 2031, Rebuild Illinois allocates $11.4 billion to projects specific to downstate IDOT Districts 4-9. Projects for districts 1-3 are slated to receive $12.3 billion for the same time, according to IDOT. Region 1 includes the state\u2019s six most populous counties that make up two-thirds of the state\u2019s population: Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane and McHenry. Districts 2 and 3 include 19 counties ranging from the state\u2019s northwest corner south to Ford and Iroquois County.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Responding to concerns about how downstate road projects will be affected, a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Transportation said, \u201cNo changes or reductions to the program are planned.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe department remains committed and has the resources to deliver all of the projects captured in the latest multiyear construction program released last fall, covering fiscal years 2026 through 2031,\u201d spokesperson Maria Castaneda said in an email.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new law doesn\u2019t explicitly divert funding from projects earmarked for central or southern Illinois. Rather, it pulls from the statewide funding pool that backs IDOT\u2019s multi-year plan and directs the money to the 85-15 transit split on an ongoing basis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, a main proponent of SB 2111, argued the bill provides sufficient funding for downstate, pointing to the 15% of redirected funds, or $129 million, for transit outside the Chicago area. But Six and several Republican legislators, including Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, said Springfield has continuously sidestepped downstate road infrastructure in favor of Chicago.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThat\u2019s peanuts compared to what they took from us and gave to Chicago,\u201d Rezin said. \u201cAnd what really makes me frustrated is, the people still in my district, when they go to gas up in my district, think that that money is going to repair their roads and bridges.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.governing.com\/archive\/gov-transportation-funding-2016-state-ballot-measure.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2016 constitutional amendment<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> approved by voters explicitly allows Road Fund money to be used for public transit and several other modes of transportation, Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Cherry Valley, characterized the diversion of funds as a \u201clegal loophole.\u201d The amendment limits money raised from transportation-related activities, like the motor fuel tax, to being spent only for transportation-related purposes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhen we talk to the public, and we sit down and talk to a group of people and have to say, \u2018They\u2019re taking $800 million of major roads and bridges that are supposed to get done out here in central and northern Illinois, that was taken and shifted over to Chicago, so your project\u2019s now being pushed back a year or two or three, then they get angry,\u2019\u201d Syverson said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Villivalam pointed out the expenditure on transit is explicitly allowed in the text of the constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Impact on trucking<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Industry groups have traditionally opposed any diversion of money from the Road Fund. Illinois Trucking Association Executive Director Matthew Hart said poor road quality leads to increased congestion during emergency repairs and hazards for commercial drivers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEvery time there is an IDOT crew or maintenance crew out there, they\u2019re closing down lanes and closing down capacity, then you restrict the flow of goods,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that\u2019s why it\u2019s imperative that we keep the roads in good shape, so that we\u2019re spending less time filling potholes.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hart said poor road quality can lead to increased costs for truckers. \u201cIf you operate trucks on bad roads, you\u2019re going to spend more time repairing your vehicles,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joseph Schwieterman, director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University, warned that downstate districts face increasing challenges financing their roads. Declining populations diminish the tax base, he said, and have reduced county spending on roads.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, he warned, \u201cwe can\u2019t fall back on our bad past habits of letting the road system deteriorate.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Rezin\u2019s district, she said Interstate 80 and Illinois Highway 47 are in need of repair.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere\u2019s tremendous impact everywhere as a result of where we\u2019re located,\u201d Rezin said of her district that includes some parts of the far southwest suburbs. \u201cMy district will see directly less money coming in. There will be less projects that will be completed because of this massive diversion of road funds to pay for the CTA, which did not raise rates or fees.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Syverson said he hopes legislators will adjust to improve funding for downstate road projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fare box recovery ratio \u2014 the percentage of a transit system\u2019s revenue that comes from rider fares \u2014 has also decreased. The requirement will be waived in 2026 and dropped from the current 50% to 25% in 2027 and 20% by 2030.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ajay Gupta, a Republican candidate for state representative in Naperville, said he views this change as a \u201crecipe for disaster\u2019\u2019 because he believes it allows transit systems to put off changes that improve cost efficiency or =increase fares.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere\u2019s no incentive to improve efficiency, which is absolutely the wrong way to do this,\u201d Gupta said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new transit law creates a more powerful governing body for the Chicago region agencies, the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, beginning September 2026. It will be able to establish a universal fare system and coordinate schedules between the three regional agencies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Read:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/no-fare-hikes-or-service-cuts-for-chicago-transit-agencies-rta-chair-says\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No fare hikes or service cuts for Chicago transit agencies, RTA chair says<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rezin is hoping the uproar over road funding will create unity among downstate politicians as they seek legislative solutions. \u201cDownstate needs to be made whole,\u201d Rezin said. \u201cWe need to be made whole because we have crumbling roads and bridges.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jacques Abou-Rizk and Amy L. Wong are graduate students in journalism with Northwestern University\u2019s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and fellows in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By JACQUES ABOU-RIZK &amp; AMY L. WONG Medill Illinois News Bureau\u00a0 news@capitolnewsillinois.com Article Summary A new state transit law redirects revenue from the state\u2019s motor fuel tax and interest from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":42819,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Illinois&#039; Road Fund Will Help Fund Transit, Especially in the Chicago Region - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/42816-how-illinois-road-fund-will-help-fund-transit-especially-in-the-chicago-region\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Illinois&#039; 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