>> Driving on the Illinois Tollway could cost you more in the near future.

The Tollway board is considering a 15 year.

26.5 billion dollar infrastructure plan that would widen highways and ease congestion across northern Illinois.

But the proposal would also raise passenger vehicle tolls beginning January.

1st by roughly 57% or about $0.45 per toll.

Supporters say the plan would boost the region's economy and modernize aging infrastructure.

But critics argue the board is moving too quickly and giving the public a little time to weigh in.

Here to help us understand our Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic analysis with the Illinois Policy Institute and Cara, principally counsel for the Indiana, Illinois Iowa Foundation for Fear Contracting construction industry nonprofit that promotes public projects.

We also invited representatives from Illinois Tollway, but they did not respond.

Bryson car, thanks to the both of you for joining Thank you.

Rice, the Illinois Tollway, calling this investment, be driving connections.

Plan.

It raises the toll fee $0.04 per mile or roughly $0.45 per toll.

And we'll address congestion and deterioration on many of northeastern Illinois aging interstates.

What are your concerns with this plan?

My concern is that we're seeing really the culmination of a broken political process here.

So this entire concept kicked off late last year when Governor Pritzker signed the Transformational Regional Transit Authority funding plan.

And at the time Speaker Welch said toll hike was the cost for union support of that plan.

So now the Tollway board, which is appointed by Governor Pritzker is going to decide what that whole hike is and where that money will be dispersed and ultimately former Tollway board member and state Senator Bill Moore said that it seems as though lawmakers decided to hike tolls first and then are now rushing to >> put together this plan to justify that increase current your organization, you help construction companies lands big projects like this one.

What would a 26 billion dollar investment mean for?

>> Engineers and construction workers in northeastern Illinois.

Yes, oh, well, we can look back to the last capital plan, move on oil that we have statistics that we have statistics for already 15 years of data.

That plan raise 1.2 billion dollars in state and local tax revenue.

14 billion dollars was invested into that plan and we received 20 billion dollars of economic output.

150,000 jobs over the course of that 15 years, 6, almost 6,000 jobs per year where construction jobs and in addition, there investments made into apprenticeship program 150 million dollars over the course of that program.

So those are big investments that help our members and our cars.

Our contractors, Rice is is your biggest concern, the political process by which this came into being or is your concern about?

>> total amount of this size is unnecessary, that there's another way to fund the the repairs that the agency says are needed.

I think it's a bit of both.

So obviously there's a political nature of the entire process and how it played out.

But also a question of whether or not this is what's needed right now.

We're actually in year 2 of of a new capital plan from the toy that started in 2025.

Called Bridging the Future.

So that shows that tow hikes are unnecessary at this time.

It's a seven-year plan around 2031 uses only current revenues and then not only maintains current infrastructure that whole way, but it and it invest money into improvements.

Abso currently tollway revenue collections or 1.3 billion dollars above maintenance and operations, meaning that there's hundreds of millions of dollars available for new investments in infrastructure.

And the current capital plan that we're only in year 2 of 7 of shows that there's a model for not only maintaining our roads but improving them without requiring a mask of toll hike.

So as we mentioned, Bryce, that the plan would raise the cost per told for passengers by about $0.45 per toll.

>> May not seem like a lot, but your organization estimate that that could add up to an additional 17 billion dollars through the year 2042. talk about the costs that that drivers motorists could be facing.

for a typical commuter paying the average transaction cost if they're commuting to and from work 50 weeks a year, 5 times a day.

That's going to represent $225 in additional travel costs and expenses.

it's also going to be 30% commercial vehicle.

toll increases.

Well, that's going to affect the price of consumer goods.

So just based on current traffic patterns alone, that would generate 17 billion dollars in additional revenue for the tollway but that's the cost being paid by consumers and drivers ultimately.

And another important peace to note is that the toll hike is actually going to include an automatic increase every 2 years.

So the toys considering this measure once, but then every 2 years there's going to be an automatic increase associated with it, leaving little accountability for a future toll board.

4 today's action, a car, you know, because Bryce mentioned the cost per told for commercial drivers by $0.30 as well.

That hamper businesses that transport goods on Illinois highways.

I understand the cost to consumers and businesses, but commercial vehicles make up 13% of vehicle miles traveled on the busiest corridors.

You I to 94 so I understand that there's a cost to investing, but there's a real cost to not investing because those roads will start deteriorating.

That cost businesses time that costs businesses money.

So feeling to invest this big cost as well.

Yeah, let's talk about that a little bit more because officials, Illinois tollway officials say the plan would actually save drivers about $725 a year by reducing vehicle repairs, fuel costs that are caused by poor road conditions.

How do deteriorating roads add up costs for drivers motorist?

I time spent on the roads, productive loss productivity, Lawson And then those costs passed on to the consumers.

Right?

So if you're driving on a bumpy.

Road, that's not in good shape and you get a flat tire gets knocked out whatever the case may be.

All right, rice, the tollway also says that the average Chicago drivers spend about 100 hours per year in traffic resulting in about $1800 in last time.

What do you make of that argument that, you know, investing in the road since of saving passengers or drivers time and money in the long run, think having high quality infrastructure is is obviously benefit to everybody.

That's why the toy already spend so much money.

>> On its infrastructure already, we also need to consider that these projects are these construction projects are causing some of that congestion.

So some of that lost time is is because of this construction.

We've seen many of these areas are already being under repair Andreessen capital plans are even actively right now.

So some of that would be contributing to additional congestion.

But beyond that, I think that again, this is we've had less than 2 months of consideration for the entire plan.

Details when available until mid June public comments public hearings were held one time in every county where the toy operates for 1, 2 hour period that I'm sorry past.

On August 3rd, public comments made online or via mail are going to close entirely.

And the board cuts bow to soon as August.

19th 2 approved this toy.

Ken, a 26.5 billion dollar plan.

That's 2 months to decide.

A permanent toll increase in billions of dollars in spending.

That's too little time.

>> Cara, we do have a name for it.

In northern Illinois.

It's construction season right on that whole ways.

Last major capital program move, Illinois launched in 2020 12.

It's only scheduled to wrap up next year.

What economic impact has that project had on how many jobs to create?

Yeah.

So it created 150,000 jobs over the course of the 15 years, 10, almost 11,000 jobs per year, 6,000 of which were construction.

As I stated.

>> There was 100 nearly 150 Million.

That it.

That was put into apprenticeship contributions.

And so that creates the next generation of workers to help build these road safely.

And I will add that hourly wages for construction work went up from 30 to $48 an hour.

That's a 61% increase.

So that's all good for our members and will end.

But will another 15 years of construction make congestion and traffic worse in certainly driving on roads that are under construction or also.

>> Damaging to your car.

I think that's a short-sighted argument because eventually that will cause roads to better.

Use improve, modernize the roads, reconstruct roads, make better interchanges and such.

No make sure Bison wanted add something to Illinois Department of Transportation rates.

100% of of the miles on the tollway.

>> At the Miles at acceptable and safe, which is far higher than the statewide average.

And I think the current capital plan and the current excess revenues that the toy already generates are just proof that roads can effectively maintained and actually improved upon at current levels.

I think that that's proof that the previous capital plan worked.

And I don't think that revenues, the capital need for the next 15 years.

>> So Bryce, you've you've urged Illinois and staff the tollway board to reject this plan.

It sounds like you don't trust that they're going deliver the economic benefits that that they're promising.

Sure at, you know, older listeners and viewers will remember that when the toys originally established in 1953, the slogan was toll-free by 73.

>> 50 years later, the toys collecting record amounts of revenues were considering the largest increase ever.

So yes, I don't have most the most confidence in.

Today saying what the future will hold if we give this power to the tollway authority and then beyond that, I don't think that Illinois and should give up.

And this one instance, the ability for the toll way too increased tax holes in perpetuity every other year.

With that automatic inflation adjustment.

We've seen what's happened in the state's road fund with the Motor Fuels tax being indexed to inflation.

It was doubled in 2019 and then index to inflation annually every year since.

In those 6 years, we've seen 2 times where the legislature has paused that increased because inflation got so high that was damaging to consumers.

There's a real threat to the happens here with this with this automatic increases tied to inflation as well.

All right.

We know that online public comment closes August 3rd, those community meetings ended last week.

>> And we know that you've had some criticism for the amount of time that they've accepted public feedback car, you know, the way board meets on August.

19 couple seconds left.

What's next?

What you expect to happen Well, hopefully this passes.

I think that the public comment that we've involved in has been good positive.

People want this from what I've a number for