State Police, IDOT break ground on $14M training facility

By Sean Reed | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The Illinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Transportation broke ground on a joint venture to build a new training facility Wednesday, focused on traffic incident safety for officers, first responders and highway workers.

The $14 million taxpayer-funded project is being constructed at ISP’s Pawnee-based extension of the agency’s training academy.

According to ISP Director Brendan Kelly, the new training facility will allow for law enforcement and first responders to train in a controlled environment that closely resembles real-world conditions.

“When emergency responders are trained in how to position their vehicles, identify the appropriate location to set up traffic cones and place signs clearly directing traffic, motorists can safely navigate past a crash, a roadway emergency, or even criminal activity,” Kelly said.

Kelly noted multiple ISP troopers that have been killed in the line of duty as a result of unsafe road conditions and distracted drivers. He said the project is a result of those deaths, alongside the many deaths of highway maintenance and construction crews that have taken place.

“While the Illinois State Police will maintain the [Traffic Incident Management] track, it will be open to the Illinois Department of Transportation as well as law enforcement and emergency response agencies across the state,” Kelly said.

IDOT Secretary Gia Biagi said the project was incredibly important to her and her agency.

“This is an incredibly serious issue. And that is why we need a facility like this to make sure we’re at our best in every possible permutation of working and using our highway system,” Biagi said.

Biagi also noted that the project is highly unique and few other states have training facilities for road safety reaching the magnitude and attention to detail as the project now underway in Illinois.

Lt. Thomas Brengel said he personally knew and worked with some officers that have died in the line of duty, and shared his expectations for what the new facility will provide.

“While unfortunately we can’t control every driver – through better training, better visibility, scene management and better coordination, we can reduce our exposure to those risks. We can create safer work zones, we can anticipate hazards, and we can respond in ways that give ourselves and coworkers a greater margin for safety,” Brengel said.

The facility will be home to a variety of road features, reflecting both rural and urban areas. A full map of the course detailed those features include a mock bridge, highway ramps, rail crossing, median crossover, intersections, and multiple different road pavement types.