Duckworth, Durbin Announce More Than $7 Million for Rockford's Whitman Street Interchange Project

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced $7,148,000 for the City of Rockford’s Whitman Street Interchange Reconfiguration Project through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) Grant Program to remove the urban interchange constructed in the early 1960s and re-establish the grid roadway system.

“Updating this critical interchange means helping families in Rockford travel their community with more ease, as well as allowing for goods to flow with increased reliability,” said Duckworth. “Along with safer, more dependable infrastructure, these federal resources will help provide good-paying, local jobs as Illinoisans build out this roadway improvement project.”

“For too long, the Whitman Street interchange has stood as a bottleneck, inhibiting the flow of commerce and impeding the daily lives of Rockford residents,” said Durbin. “This federal funding will not only rehabilitate this essential transportation hub, but also lay the groundwork for a more efficient and interconnected roadway system.”

The NAE Program was established through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which Duckworth and Durbin both supported, and provides funding for projects that improve walkability, safety, and affordable transportation access, and addresses existing transportation facilities that create barriers to community connectivity, especially in disadvantaged or underserved communities.

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