IL HR0538

Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 created the interstate highway system under President Eisenhower, completed in 1992 after 36 years of construction costing $114 billion ($558 billion in 2021 dollars)

Federal government funded 90% of the interstate highway system while states provided 10%, but the federal government dictated highway routes through dense metropolitan and urban areas

Approximately 475,000 households and more than one million people were displaced by federally funded roadway construction, and underprivileged communities were bifurcated and isolated by highway placement

Highway construction resulted in gang turfs, loss of community spaces, family separation, negative economic impacts, and emotional harm to affected communities

Illinois House recognizes the need to reunite communities split by the interstate highway system and supports expressway lids as a cost-efficient solution that can reconnect communities while creating space for parks, housing, and reducing air and noise pollution