Governor JB Pritzker visited Carbondale Wednesday to announce new state infrastructure investments for Southern Illinois, including $2 million dedicated to upgrading several key roads in the city’s downtown. The funding will support the reconstruction of Poplar, West Cherry, and West College streets, improving access to major destinations like Southern Illinois University, SIH Memorial Hospital, and the new multimodal transit station. The planned upgrades include resurfacing, new curbs and gutters, sidewalk improvements with ramps for people with disabilities, and new striping to add bike lanes where space allows. Construction is expected to begin within the next year.
The Carbondale improvements are part of a larger $400 million package funding 223 local projects across Illinois. Southern Illinois is set to receive over $1.1 billion in state and local transportation investments through the Illinois Department of Transportation’s latest multi-year improvement program.
Other major projects planned across Southern Illinois include:
$22 million to rebuild one mile and resurface over 13 miles of Illinois 34 in Franklin County.
$14.5 million to resurface and add shoulders to nearly 7 miles of Illinois 152 in Perry County.
$14 million to reconstruct sections of Illinois 146 in Union County.
$918,000 to repair the Pittsburg Road bridge in Williamson County.
$2.2 million to complete the third and final phase of the Union Hill Road project in Jackson County.
The six-year, $50.6 billion Rebuild Illinois plan is the largest infrastructure investment in state history, with $32.5 billion allocated for roads and bridges and $18.1 billion for rail, transit, aviation, ports, and bike and pedestrian projects. Since Rebuild Illinois launched in 2019, more than $20 billion in improvements have been completed statewide, covering over 21,000 lane miles of highway and 800 bridges.
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