West State Street project celebrated in Rockford; Multiyear effort improves safety, community mobility, quality of life

The Illinois Department of Transportation was joined today by local officials, community leaders and residents to celebrate the completion of the West State Street reconstruction, a multiyear project made possible by Gov. JB Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois capital program to revitalize and strengthen a key corridor and gateway into downtown Rockford. Working in partnership with Rockford, IDOT finished the project’s third and final phase, a $6.5 million improvement that added a new lane of traffic in each direction with green space and other features to encourage walking and biking.

“With the Rebuild Illinois capital plan, we are restoring and transforming Rockford’s aging infrastructure,” said Gov. JB Pritzker. “It’s not only about investing in roads and bridges, though. Rebuild Illinois is about investing in our communities and the people who serve them every single day. With the completion of the West State Street project, we’ve done just that, making a main thoroughfare safer for those who rely on it every day.”

West State Street, also known as U.S. Business 20, was rebuilt and widened between Independence and Day avenues, eliminating a bottleneck while enhancing a downtown entry point to encourage redevelopment on the city’s west side.

Other upgrades included new sanitary and storm sewers, modernized traffic signals and accommodations for pedestrians with disabilities.

“Under the leadership of Gov. Pritzker, IDOT is partnering with communities to deliver transformational, quality-of-life projects up and down the state, with no better example than the new-and-improved West State Street,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman.

“I wish to thank Rockford for working with us to help IDOT meet its mission to provide a safe, reliable multimodal transportation system that’s accessible to everyone.”

The City of Rockford participated in the cost of several aesthetic elements, including landscaped medians, decorative lighting and construction of a parkway along West State Street that features a bicycle and pedestrian path connecting neighborhoods, schools, churches and medical facilities.

“I want to thank IDOT for the incredible partnership on this $6.5 million project,” said Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara. “This work has transformed the west entrance to our city and now provides a warmer welcome for our residents and visitors.”

Over the last two decades, IDOT and Rockford have relied on extensive community input and planning to redefine and remake West State Street.

Earlier efforts rebuilt sections of the route from Independence Avenue to Kent Creek and from Meridian Road to Springfield Avenue.

Gov. Pritzker’s historic, bipartisan, Rebuild Illinois has advanced several projects in the Rockford area this year. Others include the $6.6 million expansion of East State Street from Mid America Drive to Buckley Drive, a $12.4 million resurfacing of U.S. 20 from near Winnebago to South Main Street (Illinois 2) and the $1.3 million deck overlay of the Interstate 39 bridges over the Kishwaukee River.

Statewide, over the next six years, IDOT is planning to improve more than 2,500 miles of roads and nearly 10 million square feet of bridge improvements as part of Rebuild Illinois, which is investing $33.2 billion into all modes of transportation.

Accomplishments through Year Three of Rebuild Illinois included approximately $8.6 billion of improvements statewide on 4,422 miles of highway, 412 bridges and 621 safety improvements.

Included in IDOT’s six-year program is a $227 million project to expand I-39 between Harrison Avenue and north of Blackhawk Road, including the west interchange with U.S. 20 in Cherry Valley.

The work includes reconstruction of the west U.S. 20 and Harrison Avenue interchanges and the Mulford Road bridge. A separate project will replace the Perryville Road bridge.