Dive Brief:

• The state of Illinois has authorized $1.1 billion for the state Department of Transportation's Multi-Year Program for road and bridge projects from 2015 to 2020.
• Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation to set up funding and authorization bonds to raise the money, with $1 billion going to DOT and $100 million for local governments to do infrastructure work.
• The new law is being billed as a jobs program as well as a transportation effort, and Quinn says that the state expects 210 projects to come out of it and 14,300 jobs will be created.

Dive Insight:

The capital-spending program is, of course, good news for contractors who bid on state road and bridge projects. Public-sector spending on infrastructure has been a weak spot in the commercial-sector's recovery.