Quincy Reporter

Sen. Jil Tracy shared the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Long-Range Transportation Plan, saying, "This program aims to advance the state’s mobility landscape by outlining goals, objectives, and strategies for the next 20 to 30 years," in a Sept. 20 Facebook post.

"The Illinois Department of Transportation has announced the next phase of public input for the Move Illinois: 2024 Long-Range Transportation Plan," said Tracy, State Senator, according to Facebook. "This program aims to advance the state's mobility landscape by outlining goals, objectives, and strategies for the next 20 to 30 years."

According to his Facebook post, DeWitte shared a link to the IDOT news release, which explained that the public provided a general vision and goals for the transportation plan for the next 20-30 years. Now, questions have been developed based on the initial feedback. The department will hold community events where IDOT staff and residents can speak directly, and residents can complete a survey. An advisory group of residents, business owners, and transportation professionals helps to form the goals and vision for the plan at each stage. "Long-term planning and public engagement are core functions of IDOT. We look forward to your involvement and input as we build a plan that will help future generations to grow and succeed in Illinois," said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman.

Screenshot of Senator Jil Tracy's Sept. 20 Facebook post | State Senator Jil Tracy Facebook page

At the Move Illinois Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) website, Illinois residents can enter a self-guided public meeting or take the survey to provide feedback for the state to use as it moves forward with the planning. The online public meeting includes an overview of the three-phase process, the project schedule, and information on previous LRTPs. The document created in this process is meant to help policymakers, transportation agencies, and stakeholders make decisions, allocate funds, and prioritize projects included in the LRTP. In this second phase, IDOT will consider accessibility, equity, livability, mobility, safety, resiliency, and the economy.

The first phase of this project began in May 2023 with data collection, an initial online meeting, and a first survey of Illinois residents. That phase concluded with objectives and goal setting. The second phase is expected to run through September 2024 and include strategy identification, a second survey, and another online meeting. The third phase is expected to wrap up in 2025 with a final online meeting, a draft plan recommendation document, and the final LRTP.

Sen. Tracy has represented the people of the 50th Senate District since 2022 after spending eight years in the state House of Representatives from 2006 to 2014. During her time as a State Representative, Tracy sat on the Rod Blagojevich impeachment committee. She has worked in private law as well as Mt. Sterling City Attorney before becoming an Assistant Illinois Attorney General under both Jim Ryan and Lisa Madigan. She lives in Quincy with her husband; they have four children.