Quincy gets additional state funding for port authority, transit needs

METRO EAST — Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation announced Wednesday that $111.4 million has been awarded to transit providers downstate as part of the Rebuild Illinois capital program.

The governor also announced an additional $108.3 million for public ports in Illinois. The two announcements, combined with earlier commitments of $40 million to build a port in Cairo, $244 million in additional funding to downstate transit and $96 million to extend MetroLink Service to MidAmerica Airport, contribute to a combined $601 million commitment to ports and downstate transit.

Two Quincy projects included in the spending are:

• The Mid‐America Intermodal Port Authority in Quincy was awarded $13.2 million to improve capacity and operations at existing dock and build a second dock.
• The City of Quincy will receive $1,249,440 to relocate the downtown’s transit transfer station. The project needs further funding before it can proceed to possibly move the current location in the 700 block of Jersey.

“When the General Assembly and I crafted the most robust infrastructure plan in Illinois history, our vision wasn’t limited to simply updating highways, rails, and bridges. We saw an opportunity to connect jobs and economic development to communities across the state through every mode of transportation,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Today we’re launching funding to support Illinois ports as well as over three dozen transit systems outside Chicago. All in all, we’re announcing $110 million for nine port districts as well as $112 million for 37 transit districts, totaling nearly a quarter of a billion dollars going out to projects around the state.”

“These awards to our ports and transit systems will only strengthen our status as the multimodal transportation hub of North America,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman. “Through Rebuild Illinois, Gov. Pritzker and IDOT continue to improve the state’s transportation system by seeking out the best projects that do the most good and getting our partners at the local level the resources they need to deliver them.”