News Updates

Emerging transportation priorities in northeastern Illinois

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) spent the last year reviewing federal, state, and local transportation plans and policy-related studies to understand priorities, challenges, and emerging trends relevant to our region. 

The Emerging Priorities report summarizes and organizes these priorities into five goal areas, each with multiple objectives. These will serve as a foundation for the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), to be completed in 2026.  

Goal area 1: Strengthen connections between people and places 

Address the need for more connectivity to jobs, schools, healthcare, and other essential services by managing congestion; incorporating better technology for traffic incident detection; expanding transportation choices for urban, suburban and rural areas; and improving transportation accessibility for people with disabilities. 

Goal area 2: Prioritize safety and public health

Focus on speed management, outdated infrastructure, areas that experience higher exposure to pollution, and safety risks.

Goal area 3: Mitigate pollution and invest in resilient infrastructure

Emphasize the need for increasing electric vehicles on the road; increasing travel by transit, biking, and walking; infrastructure to withstand flooding and heat; and reducing impacts of transportation projects on natural lands and water resources.

Goal area 4: Support economic prosperity and inclusive growth 

Use transportation projects to advance other regional goals like increasing connectivity to employment and economic centers; tailoring transportation approaches to local communities; and striking a balance between freight and community needs.

Goal area 5: Govern, fund, and preserve the transportation system 

Strategically prioritize transportation projects that will provide the most benefit; increase collaboration between transportation agencies; identify future funding sources; and invest in better technology that will improve safety, congestion, and transportation efficiency.

Following the Emerging Priorities report, CMAP staff members will conduct an existing conditions assessment of the transportation system and continue gathering community feedback through questionnaires, resource group meetings, and other engagements. These steps will then inform detailed strategies and investment priorities that will guide the region’s transportation future.