The following items are among the information in CMAP executive director Randy Blankenhorn's weekly update forMay 2,2008. Click here for thefull entry.

• Springfield legislative openhouse. CMAP had a successful event to update our legislators and their staff on a number of our initiatives including GO TO 2040, the Regional Water Supply Planning Study and the need for a capital bill.
• USDOT award to City of Chicago. As you no doubt heard in the news, on Tuesday the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a $153.1 million grant to the City of Chicago, aimed at reducing congestion downtown. The grant will facilitate Bus Rapid Transit and a parking pricing strategy aimed at encouraging motorists to come to the Central Business District outside peak hours.
• Accessibility workshops set for June 9-10. Accessible communities are critical to assure full mobility for our citizens. 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.
• Gowing Forward. This year's Chicago Matters media series, "Growing Forward," continues its focus on sustainability. Recently, it has emphasized the region's climate exchange programs, air quality, wind power, noise, airports and air traffic.
  

In the GO TO 2040 blog are links to some recent articles and broadcasts about CMAP's launch of the region's first truly comprehensive planning campaign.  Among the highlights are WTTW's Chicago Tonight, WBEZ's Eight Forty-Eight show, a column and news story in the Chicago Tribune, and a cover story in the Daily Herald.  To view all the news links, click here.  

Leaders of GO TO 2040, Metropolitan Chicago’s first truly comprehensive regional planning campaign, are encouraging the public to participate in making choices that will impact the future of our region. Led by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), the GO TO 2040 campaign will guide investment and development decisions across the seven-county region.  The campaign is being launched in 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.

CMAP has published the region's first base map in over 20 years. The agency developed this map as a resource for planners and local officials. If you work for a municipality, please contact your local council of government, which is helping to hand out the maps to their members. If demand is sufficient, CMAP may print additional copies that would be available to other groups for a fee. To express interest, contact Tom Garritano at 312-386-8609.

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 STB can make the best decision for our region.  (Posted 1/31/08)

Seventy-one surface transportation projects across the region will receive new federal grants totaling over $54.3 million from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) under the Fiscal Year 2008 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program.  The awards were approved by CMAP Board and the MPO Policy Committee.  Created in 1991, CMAQ is a federally-funded effort to make surface transportation improvements that improve air quality and mitigate congestion.  It supports transit improvements, commuter parking lots, traffic flow improvements, bicycle and pedestrian facility projects, bicycle parking projects, and other projects that result in emissions reductions that can be estimated and are otherwise eligible for CMAQ funds. Read more in the CMAP news release.  (Posted 1/10/08)

Many residents of metropolitan Chicago have gained a new appreciation for the old-time concept of a walkable town center with compact development and mixed uses. While those centers have often developed along Metra rail lines, the availability of mass transit is not an absolute requirement.  Read more in an article about mixed use development (725KB PDF) by CMAP's Randy Blankenhorn and Tedd Carrison for Office and Commercial Real Estate Magazine's Winter 2008 issue.  (Posted 1/9/08)

On January 9, 2008, CMAP announced the winning entries in its regional "Images of Northeastern Illinois" photography contest. Read more details in a press release.  In the fall of 2007, residents across the seven-county region were encouraged to submit photos that depict what they value about living in metropolitan Chicago.  The selected photo submissions are on-line at http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/photo-2007.aspx and will now be showcased in CMAP publications, including the region's first truly comprehensive plan for land use and transportation, due for completion in 2010. The contest had five themes, each with a first-, second- and third-place winner. The themes are Diversity (people, places and culture), Community Vitality (transportation, livable communities, retail and neighborhood pride), Natural Environment (lakes, rivers, preserves, parks, sky and wildlife), Global Appeal (business centers, commerce, production, movement of goods and finance), and Architecture/Urban Design (plazas, buildings, neighborhoods and boulevards).

CMAP executive director Randy Blankenhorn's weekly blog for January 4, 2008, describes an on-going change to the CMAP meeting schedule, in which the committees for Planning and for Programming will begin to meet on alternate months.  Read also about the application that CMAP has submitted on behalf of the Illinois Tollway, IDOT, RTA and Pace to the U.S. Department of Transportation for consideration in its Congestion Reduction Demonstration. And there's also information about the winners of CMAP's recent Images of Northeastern Illinois photo contest.  Click here to read the full blog entry.

On December 11, 2007, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, CMAP will host the second in a series of Innovation + Integration summits. The event will begin a dialogue on defining a regional agenda address impacts of climate change. See the summit web page for the agenda. For more information, call 312.386.8704 or email  summit@cmap.illinois.gov.

CMAP executive director Randy Blankenhorn's weekly blog for December 14, 2007, describes the need for a regional response to the serious threat posed by climate change.  The policies CMAP is promoting to address expected growth of 2 million new residents by 2040 -- including compact growth and effective transportation -- are some of the important steps needed improve energy efficiency and reduce metropolitan Chicago's contributions to GHG emissions.  There are many good reasons to pursue those policies, and climate change is a reason that goes beyond quality of life to encompass moral dimensions that are at the core of what makes our region great.  It won't be easy, Randy says, but he's confident we can meet those challenges together.  Click here to read the full blog entry. 

CMAP executive director Randy Blankenhorn's weekly blog for December 7, 2007, has items about our upcoming Innovation + Integration summit on creating a regional agenda to address climate change.  It also links to a preview of the new CMAP Regional Snapshot on Sustainability, which will be issued at the summit.  Click here to read the full blog entry. 

CMAP executive director Randy Blankenhorn's weekly blog for November 30 has items about the CMAP Board's forceful statement regarding the lack of a long-term solution to the region's transit crisis.  It also describes a presentation to the CMAP Board on November 28 by a representative from the CN railroad regarding its proposed acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway (EJ&E). Click here to read the full blog entry. 

In a strongly worded statement, leaders of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) today called the on-going stalemate over mass transit funding "totally unacceptable and extremely harmful to our region, both in the short- and long-term."  In addition to immediate hardships for riders affected by looming service cuts, the CMAP Board said the transit system's uncertain future is placing the region's continued prosperity at risk.