News Updates

New CMAP resources chart path to tackle congestion

Congestion is one of the region’s most noticeable transportation challenges, costing travelers time, businesses money, and the economy productivity. To help partners across northeastern Illinois address these impacts, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) developed the Congestion Management Strategy Guidebook and Comprehensive Corridor Study Template. Together, these resources provide local governments, transportation agencies, and planning partners with practical strategies to evaluate, prioritize, and implement congestion solutions. 

The guidebook outlines a range of strategies to manage congestion, guided by the Mobility Solution Ladder — a tiered framework that emphasizes cost-effective approaches like preserving the system, reducing vehicle miles traveled, and encouraging mode shift — reserving roadway capacity expansions as a last step when other options are insufficient. The template provides guidance to advance the strategies from the guidebook at the corridor level. Both resources equip partners with the tools needed to make smart investments that improve reliability, safety, and quality of life for people and businesses throughout the region. 

To assess the transportation system’s current performance and identify congestion management planning needs, CMAP analyzed travel time data and reliability performance measures. The most congested and least reliable corridors cut across northeastern Illinois, ranging from traditional suburban and limited-access arterials to multiuse urban corridors.

What’s next? 

CMAP will launch a pilot corridor plan for congestion management on one of the identified corridors. This pilot study will apply the guidebook and template to the unique context of one of the region’s longstanding congestion corridors.  

Looking ahead, CMAP will develop a pipeline of comprehensive, multimodal corridor studies that operationalize a regionally consistent, action-oriented approach to congestion management. Through multiagency and cross-sector collaboration, these efforts will lead to the implementation of strategies that address local needs and create lasting improvements.