Transportation leaders gather for 112th T.H.E. Conference

Transportation professionals from across Illinois gathered in Champaign on March 3-4 for the 112th Illinois Transportation and Highway Engineering Conference at the I Hotel and Conference Center.

Led by conference chair Jeffery Roesler, the annual event brought together over 1,700 representatives from government, industry and academia to discuss current issues affecting transportation infrastructure across the state.

This year’s program featured two workshops and over 35 presentations on transportation funding, traffic operations and safety, bridges and structures, local roads and streets, aviation, transportation materials, and more.

Imad Al-Qadi, Illinois Center for Transportation director, delivered an ICT update during the Wednesday general session, highlighting research on transportation decarbonization, rolling resistance, electrification and truck platooning. He emphasized the importance of balancing emissions reduction with pavement performance, cost and long-term resilience in future transportation decisions.

Al-Qadi also highlighted ICT’s i-PEACE platform, a free web-based tool for pavement life cycle assessment and cost analysis that helps agencies evaluate sustainability, costs and performance across a range of scenarios.

Now in its 112th year, the conference continues to serve as a longstanding forum for sharing knowledge, highlighting current work and strengthening connections across Illinois’ transportation community.

The 113th T.H.E. conference is scheduled for March 2-3, 2027, at the I Hotel and Conference Center.