In a video shot by the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, a construction worker named Robert Hall gives a testimonial for IRTBA: "It gives us a lot of work, especially when our economy was bad," the Geneva Construction Co. employee says. "IRTBA allowed us to go get more work … gave us an opportunity to keep on rolling when the housing economy was bad."
That testimony, according to IRTBA President and CEO Mike Sturino, could just as well have been about the Illinois Tollway, a $12-billion, 15-year capital program launched in 2011. Dubbed "Move Illinois," the program is the largest in the tollway's history—and it is a welcome antidote to the budget-strapped, limited construction programs of state and local transportation agencies.