Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about State Policy

Circle Interchange Project Highlights Flaws in Regional Planning Process

By Steven Vance | Mar 15, 2013 | 16 Comments

The Illinois Department of Transportation’s Circle Interchange highway project appeared out of nowhere. It wasn’t around when the GO TO 2040 regional plan was being crafted and then adopted by 7 counties and 284 municipalities, a process that lasted from 2005 to 2010. It didn’t show up until 2012, when IDOT asked the Chicago Metropolitan Agency […]

IDOT’s $400 Million Circle Interchange Expansion Won’t Fix Congestion

By Steven Vance | Feb 15, 2013 | 68 Comments

An expensive new interchange expansion that the Illinois Department of Transportation is pushing for downtown threatens to dump more traffic on Chicago streets, but the project still needs approval from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning to move forward. While IDOT is simultaneously proposing some improvements for biking and walking in the area, all of […]

McClatchy Muckrakers Expose Seedy Underbelly of the Highway Bonanza

By Tanya Snyder | Feb 12, 2013 | No Comments

The work of a sustainable transportation reporter can be a lonely lot. But it’s a lot less lonely now that two McClatchy reporters, Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon, have taken up the mantle of exposing wasteful road expansion. With their far-reaching and well-researched three-part series, published last Sunday, Tate and Gordon brought stories of highway […]

Chicago Traffic Is Congested. So What Should We Do About It?

By Steven Vance | Feb 7, 2013 | 54 Comments

Chicagoland has a lot of traffic congestion, according to this year’s Urban Mobility Report from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute [PDF], yet we continue to build more roads while transit service and walking and biking facilities don’t seem to increase as fast. Meanwhile, gas taxes and other fees on drivers fail to pay for all the […]

IDOT Blocks Protected Bike Lanes on Several Chicago Streets Until 2014

By Steven Vance | Feb 5, 2013 | 69 Comments

Last month we noted that the Illinois Department of Transportation prevented the installation of a protected bike lane planned for Jackson Boulevard, allowing only a buffered bike lane on the segment of the street it controls. Now we know why: IDOT will not allow protected bike lanes to be installed on Chicago streets under its jurisdiction until […]