Let's not forget in Illinois part of the task of IDOT is to keep people working, sometimes aimlessly so they are indebted to the likes of Quinn and company.
I to have seen numerous "work area ahead", "hit a worker and get shot" signs only to find no one working. Illinois highways are a joke. Travel states like Tennessee and Kentucky and you see more of what I'm saying.
That being said, it's ultra important when dealing with the public safety to make sure things are done properly and to engineer specification. The bridge collapse a few years ago in Minnesota (I think) is evidence of this.