In 2011, Illinois estimated that the drinking water systems needed an investment of $19 billion over the next 20 years to replace aging facilities and comply with safe drinking water regulations. However, over that same time period the water quality compliance rate has increased from 93.9% to 96.5%. Through programs such as the Clean Water Initiative, Public Water Supply Loan Program, and the Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act, Illinois has begun to make steps to improve its drinking water infrastructure. The City of Chicago Department of Water Management’s recently adopted 10-year plan for replacing aged water lines is a good step forward. These new efforts benefit our drinking water infrastructure; however, there is still a very long way to go.
A: Exceptional, B: Good, C: Mediocre, D: Poor, F: Failing, ?: Incomplete
Each category was evaluated on the basis of capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety, resilience, and innovation
Aviation
86 public-use airports
Bridges
2,275 of the 26,621 bridges are structurally deficient
Bridges
$115.80 million in bridge funds came from the Federal Highway Bridge Fund in 2011
Dams
87% of the state regulated dams have an Emergency Action Plan
Dams
212 high hazard dams
Drinking Water
$19 billion in drinking water infrastructure needs over the next 20 years
Energy
5.257 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy every year, ranking it 29th
Hazardous Waste
45 sites on the National Priorities List
Inland Waterways
1,100 miles of inland waterways, ranking it 8th nationally
Levees
2,050 miles of levees
Ports
106.4 million short tons of cargo in 2012, ranking it 6th nationally
Public Parks
$647.3 million of unmet needs for its parks system
Rail
41 freight railroads covering 7,028 miles across the state, ranking 2nd nationally by mileage
Roads
$3.7 billion a year in costs to motorists from driving on roads in need of repair, which is $449 /yr per motorist
Roads
16,966 of the state’s 144,337 public roads are major roads, and 15% are in poor condition
Schools
$8.2 billion in estimated school infrastructure funding needs
Transit
648 million annual unlinked passenger trips via transit systems including bus, transit, and commuter trains
Wastewater
$17.5 billion in wastewater infrastructure needs over the next 20 years
March 03, 2017
As the President’s repeated in his address to Congress his pledge to dramatically increase infrastructure spending to the tune of $1 trillion, various Congressional Committees
March 01, 2017
On Tuesday night, President Trump addressed a joint-session of Congress for the first time in his presidency. Infrastructure was among the many issues he discussed.
February 28, 2017
U.S. motorists set a new record for vehicle miles travelled (VMT) in 2016, driving over 3.2 trillion miles, an increase of 70 billion miles from
February 17, 2017
Romantic dates, the Grammy awards and celebrating black history are not the only milestones of this week; the Oroville dam crisis in California and the