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Infrastructure
Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
7:11pm
Mon Jun 10

Congress Needs To 'Step Up' Funding For Rail Infrastructure Upgrades, Industry Panelists Say

Ongoing infrastructure upgrades to Illinois’ passenger and rail transportation systems face an uncertain future, as the public-private partnership CREATE program nears the 10-year mark and has less than half of the money needed for completion.

“CREATE has been moving forward, but there’s more work to do,” said U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D, IL-3). “This is about safety, commerce and moving passengers more efficiently, but there is a need for more funding.”

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Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
12:41pm
Tue Apr 23

Chicago's 5th Ward Residents Offer Up Ways To Spend Ward Money To Improve The Community

South Side residents unveiled plans for new sidewalks, a community garden and other infrastructure needs to be created with Ald. Leslie Hairston's (5th) $1.3 million in “menu money” at the ward's final participatory budgeting expo.

The projects are set to go up for a community vote next week.

Aldermen typically decide how to spend their pot of discretionary funds for ward improvements like fixing potholes and adding street signals, but participatory budgeting puts the decision-making process in the hands of the community.

"With your voice and your help, not only do you get a better understanding of how much things cost and what it takes to get a project from conception to completion, but also, I think, it helps to walk down the street and see a light post and know that you had a part in putting that light post there," Hairston told a few dozen residents at the expo, held at the Catholic Theological Union over the weekend. Read more »

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
12:03pm
Thu Apr 4

State Coalition Hosts Talk On Reversing The Chicago River

Illinois’ Healthy Water Solutions Coalition has a vision for Chicago’s future.

It includes revitalizing the Chicago River via restoring the natural divide between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins.

Physical separation of the basins and Lake Michigan is the only permanent solution to prevent invasive species from transferring through the Chicago waterways, members of the coalition said at it’s public “Changing Course: Revitalizing the Chicago River” talk Wednesday night. The meeting was set to get more people engaged with the issue.

“This is about a lot more than Asian carp,” said Tim Eder, executive director of the Great Lakes Commission. “This is about more than just one fish that threatens Lake Michigan. It’s about a number of different invasive species ... but it’s also about more than fish, and the ecosystem, and the lake. It’s about restoring and utilizing a precious resource that in many ways the city has turned its back on.”

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PI Original
by Ashlee Rezin
5:07pm
Tue Apr 2

Major Infrastructure Needs Along Mississippi & Illinois Rivers Prompt Bipartisan Legislation

Congress

Outdated and deteriorating locks and dams along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers have contributed to a backlog of projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), amounting to $60 billion in unfunded, but necessary, upgrades. Prompted by this statistic, Illinois congressional delegates sponsored bipartisan legislation earlier this month that would encourage private investment in improving the nation’s water infrastructure.

Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
9:35pm
Wed Feb 27

Unemployment Report: Legislative Focus Needs To Be On Job Creation, Not Austerity

Unemployment rates are not expected to improve for white, Latino and African American workers through 2013, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, prompting a recommendation for legislators that focus more on job creation.

“In the fourth quarter of 2012, nationwide unemployment rates were 6.3 percent for whites, 9.8 percent for Hispanics, and 14 percent for blacks. These elevated rates are projected to remain essentially unchanged at the end of 2013,” the report reads.

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