Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about State Policy

Illiana Boondoggle Now Guaranteed to Cost Taxpayers At Least $250 Million

By Shaun Jacobsen | May 7, 2014 | 16 Comments

Remember the “innovative” public-private partnership Governor Quinn lauded as a way to build the “21st century” Illiana Expressway, without shifting the entire cost onto the general public? Or remember CMAP’s statement opposing the project, based on its contradictory growth projections, overestimated benefit to the region, and severe financial risk, and the multiple op-eds and articles that followed, all expressing concern about the expressway’s ability to […]

Don’t Despair, Evanston & Oak Park May Still Get Divvy Stations

By John Greenfield | May 6, 2014 | 5 Comments

Last month, it was a bummer when the Illinois Department of Transportation announced $52.7 million in funding for transportation projects, including many bike and pedestrian projects, but the expansion of Divvy into the suburbs wasn’t one of them. However, officials say they’re hopeful money can be found to extend the system past the city limits. […]

Environmental Groups Charge Illiana Illegally Bypassed CMAP

By Shaun Jacobsen | Apr 25, 2014 | 3 Comments

The Illiana Expressway encountered a potential roadblock in the form of a lawsuit filed last Thursday. Three environmental groups filed the lawsuit: the Environmental Law & Policy Center, representing Openlands and the Sierra Club. The lawsuit [PDF] alleges that IDOT circumvented the proper approval process to get the tollway past a crucial review. On October […]

Could IDOT Bike Plan Represent a Turning Point for the Car-Centric Agency?

By John Greenfield | Apr 15, 2014 | 5 Comments

The Illinois Department of Transportation has a long history of promoting driving before all other modes. However, its new Illinois Bike Transportation Plan, released this morning at the Illinois Bike Summit in Champaign, may represent a new direction for the department. In recent years, IDOT has pushed wasteful, destructive highway projects like the Circle Interchange […]

Tell IDOT to Rehab LSD as a Complete Street, Not a Speedway

By Jessica Papanek | Apr 14, 2014 | 72 Comments

On Thursday, the Illinois Department of Transportation kicked off the feedback process for the the North Lake Shore Drive rehabilitation’s future alternatives analysis, at the third meeting of the project’s task forces. During the previous two meetings, it seemed like IDOT would insist upon just another highway project, with minimal benefits for pedestrians, transit users […]

One Chart Explains All the Chicagoland Transit Reform Proposals

By Steven Vance | Apr 11, 2014 | 10 Comments

Several different proposals to fund and govern Chicagoland’s transit system have recently been floated by various area politicians and interest groups. Streetsblog has created this handy chart to compare each of the proposals to one another, and to how the system currently works. Click to open the chart in a new window. The chart compares […]

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