Obama's 'Fix it First' Program Would Mend 'Deficient' Kendall/Kane 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."

Some of the structurally deficient bridges Obama referred to are located in the Kendall County 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."

Locally the River Road Bridge that crosses the Blackberry Creek in Yorkville is listed as structurally deficient. Built in 1959, the bridge has been closed since 2011 and Yorkville City Administrator Bart Olson has said it's not likely to open again until this summer. 

Two more bridges crossing the Blackberry Creek are also listed as structurally deficient — one at Jericho Road (built in 1933) and the other at Prairie Street (built in 1972.) Both are located in Kane County.

Finally, the Waubonsee Creek bridge on Route 30 north of Goodwin Drive is also on the list. That bridge was built in 1958 and carries on average about 22,600 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."