A bill filed by a local State Senator that aims to make improvements to dangerous roads is one step closer to becoming law.
State Senator Sam McCann’s recently filed Senate Bill 2267, which looks to help local road authorities add safety markings to dangerous roads, has been advanced by the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee with unanimous support. The bill was initiated following a car crash near White Hall last year that claimed the life of Lynn Jason Turner, with reports saying that the crash occurred in conditions of heavy fog as Turner’s vehicle crossed over into the opposite lane of traffic on an un-striped road.
Senator McCann goes over some of the reasons why he decided to sponsor Senate Bill 2267, and explains how the state pays for having its roads striped under current law.
“We understand that the counties and townships are under extreme financial duress, they’re doing the best that they can do with what they have, we totally understand that, I do, and that’s one of the reasons I sponsored this bill. When I found out from the county engineer that they were not able to use federal and state pass through dollars for striping, and that it could only come from motor fuel tax dollars, i thought that’s just ridiculous. I understand that they might be able to stripe every mile of road in the county, but on these areas that are identified as dangerous by the county highway engineer, by the IDOT engineers, they should be able to take these funds that we send for roads, just not for striping, and use them for striping. It just seems like a common sense approach, and hopefully saves some lives in the future,” says McCann.
Continuing on the subject of motor fuel tax dollars, Senator McCann says those proceeds going to local road authorities continue to diminish, which in turn decreases the amount of roads that can be striped.
Senator McCann says one of the great aspects of this bill is that it doesn’t necessarily create an entirely new law, it just alters or modifies an already-existing law.
Having passed the Senate Transportation Committee, McCann’s legislation now heads to the full chamber for a vote. If the legislation makes it through the full chamber, it will then go to Governor Rauner’s desk. McCann says the bill could be called for a vote as early as today.