Accessible communities are critical to assure full mobility for our citizens. On June 9 and 10, CMAP is sponsoring "Designing Pedestrian Facilities for Accessibility," a 1 1/2 day workshop. It gives an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and how it applies to the public right-of-way. Despite recent progress, current practices in much of northeastern Illinois do not fully comply with requirements to provide accessible pedestrian facilities. The class will cover public right-of-way accessibility practice so that design, construction, and operations in our communities, as well as local ADA Transition Plans, can be appropriately updated. The workshop is for Illinois engineers, planners, and other design professionals who plan, design, and/or build pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way. Registration requires a nominal fee, and space is limited. Click here for more information and to register.
The CMAP Transportation Committee has released proposed modifications to the regional transportation plan, program, and air-quality analysis for a 30-day public comment period. CMAP is seeking comments on FY 2007-2012 Transportation Improvement Program amendments, including new, modified, and deleted projects, as well as projects moving across air quality analysis years. The Regional Transportation Plan update consists primarily of an update to the limits of additional lanes along I-55 south from the current terminus at Arsenal Road to Coal City Road in southern Will County. To comment, please follow directions at the main TIP and RTP pages, where the respective proposed amendments are available to download. The comment period extends through May 24, 2008.
CMAP will host a conference of the Lake Michigan Watershed Academy from May 20 to 22, 2008. This three-day interactive event will cover water quality issues and regional policy development relevant to Lake Michigan and its basin, including watersheds in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois. It is geared to staff from regional planning organizations within the Lake Michigan basin, watershed groups that plan and implement projects, local elected officials and planning or public works staff of municipalities within the basin, and agency planners, policy makers and project implementers on a local or regional level. Keynote speaker will be John Austin of the Brookings Institution, speaking on "Healthy Waters Strong Economy: The Economic Benefits of Restoring the Great Lakes Ecosystem."
CMAP is developing a series of Regional Snapshot reports to summarize important issues that will be part of the GO TO 2040 comprehensive plan. The latest snapshot report attempts to identify potential infill opportunities across the region. Redeveloping infill sites can offer substantial benefits. It can revitalize stressed communities, increase tax revenues, provide opportunities to create affordable housing, preserve natural resources in undeveloped areas, and effectively use existing infrastructure and services. Click the image at right to download the Regional Snapshot on Infill (1.4 MB PDF).
Executive director Randy Blankenhorn was interviewed on WTTW's Chicago Tonight as part of the agency's launch of GO TO 2040, metropolitan Chicago’s first truly comprehensive regional planning campaign. Click here for a collection of other GO TO 2040 news links, and read more about the launch in the CMAP press release. The agency also announced its new partnership with The Chicago Community Trust, which is providing financial and research support. CMAP and the Trust are developing a set of regional indicators that will predict the effects of policies and investments that the region should implement to achieve its vision for the future.
Now in its 18th year, Chicago’s award-winning multimedia public affairs series, Chicago Matters: Growing Forward has been launched to examine how the choices we make today impact our environment and the future of our region. All of the topics that will be covered in the series are integral to the work of CMAP. Please see http://www.chicagomatters.org for the programming list and more information.
Governor Blagojevich has appointed former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and SIU president Glenn Poshard to co-chair the campaign to fund a capital program for the State of Illinois. The Illinois Works Coalition is a bi-partisan effort to pass a proposed $25 billion capital improvement program infrastructure in schools, roads, bridges, airports and transit systems. Since 2006, the CMAP Board has been on-record in support of such a program.
On January 31, 2008, Randy Blankenhorn testified at a Chicago hearing of the Illinois House Committee on Rail Safety regarding the proposed Canadian National (CN) Railway acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern (EJ&E) Railway. Click here to see his testimony (85KB PDF). CMAP's position is that much more detailed study is necessary as part of the federal Surface Transportation Board's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. Our agency is committed to playing a strong role in that EIS process to help ensure that the potential impacts -- both positive and negative -- are weighed carefully so the STB can make the best decision for our region. There is coverage of the hearing in the Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, and Joliet Herald-News. For more details, see CMAP's January 28 letter to the STB and comments on the EIS scope, and click here for other newspaper coverage.
On behalf of the Illinois Tollway, IDOT, RTA and Pace, CMAP has submitted the region’s application (7MB PDF) to the U.S. Department of Transportation for consideration in its Congestion Reduction Demonstration. USDOT is continuing to pursue programs aimed at reducing congestion within metropolitan regions and while this is not a second year of the Urban Partnership Agreement, this Congestion Reduction Demonstration retains many of its elements. The proposal contains a number of elements, but its focus is on a demonstration in the Northwest Corridor on roadway pricing and supporting strategies to reduce congestion.