News Updates

10 CMAP Local Technical Assistance partners receive millions in grants for infrastructure improvements

Ten infrastructure improvements that the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) helped develop are moving closer toward implementation after being awarded nearly $3.1 million in grants from the 2020 Invest in Cook program.

The 10 projects related to CMAP’s Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program that are receiving grants from Cook County this year include bicycle and pedestrian improvements, road upgrades and freight improvements.

“Our planning work with communities makes it safer and easier for every resident to access transportation and get to the places they need to go,” CMAP Executive Director Erin Aleman said. “Grant programs like Invest in Cook provide communities with the resources needed to make these multimodal infrastructure improvements a reality.”

For example, Richton Park in south suburban Cook County will receive $414,000 to continue construction that will connect the village’s bike network and fill a gap in the regional bike network. Once complete, the project will create a safer and more accessible interconnected route for bicyclists and pedestrians in Richton Park and neighboring Matteson.

Another LTA partner in south suburban Cook County, Park Forest is receiving $480,000 for preliminary engineering costs related to making a Pace bus route more accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists. The project, which prioritizes alternative means of transportation, will help the village achieve goals outlined in its complete streets policy and sustainability plan.

The full list of projects related to CMAP’s Local Technical Assistance program are:

• Calumet City and a $360,000 grant related to engineering costs for the Michigan City Road Bicycle Path project.
• Calumet Park and a $100,000 grant related to a planning study for the Industrial Subarea Action Plan.
• Chicago Heights and a $477,900 grant related to construction costs for freight improvements along Euclid Avenue.
• Evanston and a $500,000 grant related to road construction costs for its Main Street corridor improvements.
• Lansing and a $155,000 grant covering engineering costs related to its Lansing Greenway Multi-Use Path project.
• Morton Grove and a $267,000 grant related to construction costs for its Oakton Street and Caldwell Avenue sidewalk connectivity project.
• Park Forest and a $480,000 grant covering engineering costs related to its Forest/Norwood Boulevard complete streets improvements.
• Richton Park and a $414,000 grant related to construction costs for its Poplar Avenue bike trail extension.
• Riverside and a $50,000 grant covering construction costs related to its Swan Pond bike path project.
• Sauk Village and a $300,000 grant related to a planning study for extending the Old Plank Road Trail.

Since our LTA program began, CMAP has initiated more than 200 projects with local governments and community groups throughout northeastern Illinois to address local transportation, land use and housing issues.

For this year’s entire Invest in Cook program, Cook County officials said they awarded a total of $8.5 million in grants to more than two dozen projects, with about 70 percent of funding going toward low-and moderate-income communities.