State Sen. Patrick Joyce is trying to break what locals say feels like a cycle of serious crashes at rural crossroads in southern Will County and along the Kankakee-area corridor. This week, he moved a bill that would force the Illinois Department of Transportation to move faster on safety reviews at some of the most dangerous state-controlled intersections in the region.
The push follows a string of recent wrecks, including a deadly January collision near Manhattan that left one driver dead and multiple students checked at area hospitals. If the proposal becomes law, it would put trouble spots south of Interstate 80 at the front of the line for quick design tweaks or traffic-control fixes instead of leaving municipalities waiting months or years.
Senate Bill 3275 has already cleared a major hurdle in the Senate and is now headed to the Rules Committee, according to a release reported by Shaw Local/The Herald-News. “I think about the communities of Manhattan, Peotone, and Manteno who feel helpless when accidents keep happening,” Joyce said in the release cited by the paper. He said the goal is to cut down on preventable crashes by speeding up repairs and signal or design changes.
What SB3275 Would Require
SB3275 would insert a new section into the Department of Transportation law that creates an expedited process for municipalities or counties to request intersection reviews, according to the bill text on the Illinois General Assembly. Under the measure, IDOT would also have to conduct a road safety assessment of the 10 most hazardous state-controlled intersections in Will County south of I-80 and submit its findings to the General Assembly by Jan. 1, 2028.
Sponsors describe the change as temporary and narrowly tailored, meant to clear away bureaucratic slowdowns so that relatively simple fixes at high-risk locations are not stuck in a long queue.
Crash That Spurred The Push
The legislation was driven in part by a Jan. 15 crash near Manhattan in which a passenger vehicle struck a Manhattan School District 114 bus. The Will County coroner later identified the driver who died, and the bus was carrying 10 students, as reported by NBC Chicago.
Local officials said they have repeatedly pressed IDOT to address hazards on state roads in the area following recent fatal crashes, according to CBS Chicago.
Where The Bill Goes Next
Legislative tracking shows SB3275 was marked “engrossed” on April 17 and then sent to the Senate Rules Committee for further consideration, per LegiScan. If the bill clears both chambers, IDOT would be responsible for conducting the assessment and could recommend targeted design, signal or traffic-control changes that local leaders hope will reduce crash risk, according to the bill language on the Illinois General Assembly.
What Locals Hope To See
Local officials have been clear that they want movement from study to action, not another stack of reports. “With swift action, we can cut down the number of preventable accidents,” Joyce said in a statement reported by Shaw Local/The Herald-News.
Residents in Manhattan, Peotone and Manteno will now be watching both Springfield and IDOT for clear timelines and any funded recommendations that emerge from the new assessment process.
