Peoria Standard

In an Aug. 29 Facebook post, Sen. Tom Bennett shared a visit with individuals connected to the Illinois Department of Transportation and the IDOT 5-year plan related to areas in the 53rd District. The improvement program addressed concerns on highways, waterways, airports, public transit, and railways.

"Glad to meet with Masood, Michael, Junior, and Kyle of IDOT to talk about a number of road concerns around our district," Bennett said. "Conversations identified several concerns around staffing and salaries, finding help, increased costs, and project management. Much thought and coordination goes into updating our roads and bridges."

Senator Tom Bennett was appointed to represent the 53rd Senate District after the resignation of Sen. Jason Barickman. Between 2015 and 2023, Bennett was a State Representative in the 106th House District.

This five-year plan from the Illinois Department of Transportation isn’t new. The plan is an annual update of the department’s regular multi-year-program plan, which Bennett shared in his July 14 news release. The entire FY 2024-2029 plan is available here.

The projects specific to Senate District 53, which is where Sen. Bennett serves, are available here. A variety of projects are listed in Peoria and the surrounding areas. They include, according to the IDOT Senate District 53 breakdown, construction engineering, as well as a standard overlay and widening of existing pavement on Muller Road east of Pinecrest Drive in E. Peoria to West of Jay Ave., in Morton, estimated to be done in 2025-2029; In Peoria County, bridge projects include replacing the superstructure at Spoon River Branch 2.5 of IL 90 at Duncan Road, in 2024, as well as construction engineering for bridge reconstruction on Maxwell Road, over C&NW RR .02 miles south of IL 116, also dated for 2024. At Glasford-Canton Road, there is an expectation for a new deck bridge at the East Branch of Copperas Creek, half a mile northwest of Srague Road, scheduled for 2025-2029. Other projects are outlined in this document.

The outlet noted that the project cost is a 10% increase over the previous multi-year plan. 

“This is more than just new rail. This is more than a runway at an airport. This is about opportunities," Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea said."We can see all those physical infrastructure improvements, but what we don’t really see is the opportunities that this program creates for a diverse workforce with high wages, middle-class wages, health care, and retirement security,”