Illinois’ infrastructure, as measured by civil engineers, isn’t good, but it is improving.
Illinois gets a C-minus in the once-every-four-years report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers. The grades were announced today (Wednesday) in Springfield.
“The previous 2010 report card awarded the state a grade of a D+, so while a C-minus is an unacceptably low grade, there certainly does appear to be improvement in Illinois’ infrastructure,” said Darren T. Olson, chairman of the report card committee.
Olson says the state construction program – $30 billion over five year – has helped, but beyond the expiration of that on June 30, there’s no long-term funding mechanism to prevent backsliding.
What is ultimately needed, the engineers say, is reliable annual funding, and infrastructure that can withstand disasters and which will reduce the cost of doing business.