By Adam Studzinski
WASHINGTON – A five-year, $305-billion federal highway spending bill was overwhelmingly approved Thursday by Congress.
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 is the first long-term transportation legislation in almost a decade. It dishes out about $7.3 billion in highway funding for Illinois and $3 billion for transit.
“It reforms and strengthens our surface transportation infrastructure and safety programs,” said U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville). “It also increases flexibility for states and local governments to better address their unique infrastructure priorities.”
Davis serves on the committee which crafted the bill. It passed by a 363-64 vote, which Davis said is a good sign of bipartisanship in Congress.
Davis explained the bill does not contain any earmarks for specific projects.
“What that means is, this money will actually be implemented and spent by the Illinois Department of Transportation. So the projects that will benefit from this bill are every single project in Illinois in their five-year plan,” he said.
Illinois’ overall share is almost 6.4 percent, the state’s highest for transit since 2006.
President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
