Chairman Sandoval: “Highway Spending Formula is Outdated and Unfair”

Chairman Sandoval: "Highway Spending Formula is Outdated and Unfair"

State Sen. Martin A. Sandoval (D-Chicago), Chairman of the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee, (center) demands the immediate review of the decades-old Road Fund Formula for a more efficient and reasonable distribution of state subsidies allocated to the construction of new highways in Northeastern Illinois.Pictured from left: Sen. Rickey R. Hendon (D-5); Sen. Michael Bond (D- 31); Chairman Sandoval; Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-13) and Sen. Heather Steans (D-7).

Springfield, Illinois - Taking the lead to improve the infrastructure in a more efficient and equitable way throughout the state, Senator Martin A. Sandoval, Chairman of the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee, requested a special report from the General Assembly's Legislative Research Uniton how funds are distributed and called for the immediate review of the Highway Spending Formula.

"The way this money is distributed is outdated and does not reflect the factthat our demographics are shifting, particularly with explosive population growth in the suburbs over the last few decades," said Chairman Sandoval. "Northeastern Illinois deserves a much larger distribution of state road funds, most of which are going Downstate and I believe that the allocations should be reversed".
During a press conference Sandoval presented the study comparing population, numbers of vehicles, vehicle miles traveled, miles of roadway, amounts of motor fuel sold and other factors in the six-county Chicago region versus the rest of the state.
The special report reveals that 8 million people of Northeastern Illinois represent 63% of the state's population. Together, they have 6.3 million motor vehicles registered (57% of the state) and 54% of all vehicle miles driven. "It is time to craft a policy for Road Fund spending that meets the needs of Illinois' economy today and not simply sustain the policy decisions from decades ago," said Chairman Sandoval.

The traditional funding approach to allocating Road Fund dollars for the state road network has been in place for decades: less than 45% of the money for state roads is appropriated for Northeastern Illinois (Cook, Du Page, Lake, McHenry, Kane and Will counties) and more than 55% of the money is appropriated for the rest of the state.

Chairman Sandoval is decisively looking for more support among Chicago-area legislators to change the road fund allocations in the fiscal 2010 state transportation budget, while IDOT is evaluating the proposal.

Sandoval represents the 12th Legislative District that includes the Southwest Side of Chicago and the suburbs of Cicero, Berwyn and Stickney.