Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about State Policy

At Memorial for Bobby Cann, Word That IDOT Will Allow Protected Bike Lane

By Steven Vance | Oct 25, 2013 | 2 Comments

More than 75 people stood at Clybourn Avenue and Larrabee Street this afternoon to see the unveiling of Honorary Bobby Cann Way. Cann was riding his bike near the site on May 29, when he was struck and killed by Ryne San Hamel, driving drunk with a BAC of 0.127. This section of Clybourn is ideal for […]

IDOT Wants Your Feedback on the Statewide Bike Plan

By Steven Vance | Oct 23, 2013 | 33 Comments

The Illinois Department of Transportation is heading toward its winter goal of completing the statewide transportation bike plan. A meeting in Chicago this July led to a slightly tense discussion about IDOT’s ban on protected bike lanes, during which a staffer deftly tempered the mood by saying, “We used to focus only on highways… you’re […]

Another Example of IDOT Blocking Efforts for Safer Chicago Streets

By John Greenfield | Oct 22, 2013 | 39 Comments

[This piece also runs in Checkerboard City, John’s column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.] The Illinois Department of Transportation isn’t all bad, but it sure seems that way sometimes. Earlier this year Steven Vance broke the story that IDOT has been blocking the Chicago Department of Transportation from installing protected […]

Metra and Pace Maintain Support for Illiana at the Expense of Transit

By Steven Vance | Oct 18, 2013 | 20 Comments

Yesterday, 11 members of the Metropolitan Planning Organization policy committee, including Metra and Pace, voted to add the Illiana Tollway to the GO TO 2040 regional plan. This enables the Illinois DOT and Indiana DOT to move forward with the project approvals necessary to receive federal funds. It also sets the stage for huge sums to […]

Metra and Pace Vote For Transit-Crushing Illiana Tollway in Advisory Meeting

By Steven Vance | Oct 8, 2013 | 87 Comments

Chicago-area transportation organizations are poised to shoot themselves in the foot and harm the region by allowing the Illinois Department of Transportation Department to squander limited transportation infrastructure funds on the $2.75 billion Illiana Tollway. On Friday the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s transportation committee voted to recommend moving forward with this wasteful, destructive project, […]

As IDOT Postpones Illiana Vote, Planners Say the Region Doesn’t Need It

By Steven Vance | Sep 27, 2013 | 3 Comments

Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider has pushed back a crucial vote about the Illiana Expressway a week to October 17. The vote by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning policy committee will decide if building 47 miles of tolled highway south of the urbanized areas of Chicagoland and into Indiana can proceed. If […]

Show More Stories