Though Putnam County is Illinois’ smallest county, it has $15.6 million worth of construction projects slated from 2025-2029.

Most notably, the Illinois Department of Transportation is planning $7 million in improvements to Route 18 from the Henry bridge to Route 26 and Route 26 from Route 18 to Tax School Road.

In July, Gov JB Pritzker’s office and IDOT announced their largest multi-year program to fix and repair infrastructure in state history: $40.99 billion over six years. The new multi-year program is the first time in more than a decade IDOT is releasing a comprehensive approach to invest in all modes of transportation: roads and bridges, aviation, transit, freight and passenger rail, waterways, as well as bicycle and pedestrian accommodations.

“Rebuild Illinois has increased safety, efficiency, and opportunities for residents all over the state – and over the next few years, we will keep building on that progress, with all 102 counties of Illinois included in the multi-year program.”

—  Gov. JB Pritzker

The work in Putnam County focuses on road projects.

Other projects include $1.7 million to replace a Route 26 bridge over a ditch 4.8 miles south of Route 71; $1.3 million to replace a bridge superstructure on Route 29 over Senachwine Creek; $4.3 million to overlay Route 71 1.4 miles east of Interstate 180 to the Route 26 interchange to Route 89 (5.22 miles of road); $100,000 to make a utility adjustment on Route 89 bridge over Clear Creek; $1.1 million to reconstruct County Highway 16 from Route 89 to the La Salle County line (1.92 miles) and $115,000 for engineering that project.

“Rebuild Illinois has increased safety, efficiency and opportunities for residents all over the state – and over the next few years, we will keep building on that progress, with all 102 counties of Illinois included in the multi-year program,” said Gov. JB Pritkzer over the summer.

The Fiscal Year 2024-29 Proposed Highway and Multimodal Improvement Program aims to invest $27.03 billion in roads and bridges, with $4.6 billion identified for the current fiscal year.

Specific starts dates on the project were not shared in IDOT’s program.