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Article: Truck traffic exacts terrible toll on state highways Second in a series.
- Article from:
- Courier-News (Elgin, IL)
- Article date:
- May 3, 1999
CopyrightCopyright (c) 1999 Courier-News. (Hide copyright information)
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Truck traffic exacts terrible toll on state highways Second in a series. zB1 By Christopher Thorne THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Is Illinois paying a price for being the crossroads of the nation?
Many see commercial truck traffic -- heavier in Illinois than any other state in the nation -- as a sign of a prosperous economy.
Trucks connect factories to stores, ports to warehouses, farms to cities.
But heavy trucks damage roads.
State engineers estimate that trucks cause 93 percent of potholes, crumbling shoulders and other highway damage -- about $1.1 billion of the $1.2 billion in annual wear-and-tear on Illinois interstates.
Yet trucks pay less than 30 percent of what Illinois collects in ...