Obama's 'Fix it First' Program Would Mend 'Deficient' Lincoln-Way Bridges

President Barack Obama proposed Tuesday night what he called a "Fix It First" program to address the nation's crumbling infrastructure—like roads and bridges—in an effort to improve citizens' quality of life and bring jobs to the United States.

"I propose a 'Fix-It-First' program to put people to work as soon as possible on our most urgent repairs, like the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient bridges across the country," he said during the State of the Union Address.

"And to make sure taxpayers don’t shoulder the whole burden, I’m also proposing a Partnership to Rebuild America that attracts private capital to upgrade what our businesses need most—modern ports to move goods; modern pipelines to withstand a storm; modern schools worthy of our children."

Many of the structurally deficient bridges Obama referred to are located near the Lincoln-Way area, according to Transportation for America. The organization's campaign says coordinators are "eager to reform how we spend transportation dollars at the federal, state and local level to create a safer, cleaner and smarter transportation system that works for everyone."

Among these nearby deficient bridges is the Cedar Road bridge at Spring Creek, located northwest of Mokena. Each day 8,200 cars cross the bridge, which was last inspected in 2008.

Also structurally deficient is the Central Avenue bridge at I-80, northeast of Frankfort Square, which is crossed by 2,550 cars per day.

East of Frankfort Square, two Matteson bridges built next to one another are also deficient. The Birchwood Lane bridge and the Violet Lane bridge both cross Butterfield Creek and are used by less than 400 cars per day.

Overall, Illinois ranks 35th in the country when it comes to inadequate bridges with about 8.5 percent of all its bridges rated as such.

That may change if Obama has anything to say about it.

"Let’s prove that there is no better place to do business than the United States of America," he said Tuesday. "And let’s start right away."

This article includes reporting by Patch Editor Carrie Frillman.

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