The unpredictable weather in Illinois isn’t the only reason roads break down. A lack of capital funds can keep real repairs from taking place.
Roadways are designed to last a certain amount of time, anywhere from 5 years to 30 years. But without money to revamp the roads with more durable materials, frequent damage is to be expected.
Professor Jeff Roesler is with the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. He says the federal tax allocation for roadways hasn’t changed since 1993.
“Imagine repairing the roadways based on revenue that you used to get in 1993 in 2014 dollars”
Roesler says because of that, local governments save money by patching over road problems instead of fixing them.