A deteriorating bridge over Long Creek in central Illinois is getting a full replacement, funded by nearly $1 million in federal money flowing from the largest dedicated bridge investment program in the country's history.
The span carries IL Route 105 about half a mile east of Oakley Road, near the small Macon County community of Oakley. For local farmers, it's not a landmark so much as a necessity: the bridge sits along an east-west corridor that connects agricultural operations to US 51 and Decatur, the county seat. Grain trucks and farm equipment move across spans like this one constantly during harvest season, and a closure means costly detours on roads not designed for that kind of weight.
The $985,925 grant comes from the federal Bridge Formula Program, created under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The program set aside $26.5 billion over five years specifically for bridge repair, rehabilitation, and replacement across the country, a direct response to decades of deferred maintenance that left roughly 45,000 American bridges in structurally deficient condition when the law was signed. Illinois, which maintains around 26,800 highway bridges (the third-largest inventory of any state), was allocated approximately $2.53 billion from the program, one of the largest state shares in the country.
Macon County reflects why that allocation is so large. The county's bridges, like many in rural Illinois, endure freeze-thaw cycles, aging concrete and steel components, and constant pressure from heavy agricultural loads. The state identified more than 2,300 bridges in poor condition as recently as 2022. The Long Creek replacement is a full swap, not a patch job.
The federal investment also complements Illinois's own $33.2 billion Rebuild Illinois capital plan, enacted in 2019, which has directed state dollars to similar projects alongside federal funding. Similar Bridge Formula Program grants have supported rural replacements across the region, including in Pawnee, Oklahoma and Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
No construction timeline has been publicly announced for the Long Creek project. The grant was posted August 28, 2025, and the Illinois Department of Transportation will oversee the work.
