First Off...

Joint Board and MPO Policy Committee recap. Honoring tradition and the two-year anniversary of the GO TO 2040 plan's adoption, both of our policy boards convened this week in a joint meeting. Additionally, this month marks the seventh anniversary of the CMAP Board’s existence. The meeting's main focus was on progress made in implementing the plan and a discussion on strategic next steps on a number of transportation topics. I presented an overview of CMAP’s second-year implementation accomplishments, organized by plan chapter. After the presentation, both boards engaged in a policy discussion of various transportation issues. Following a discussion, both Boards approved the staff recommendation to advance performance-based funding for transportation projects in Illinois by requesting that IDOT form a technical advisory group to move this forward and that CMAP should initiate a regional process for developing the agency’s internal prioritization and selection methodology to evaluate candidate projects. Other highlights of the meeting were the approval of the Local Technical Assistance Program, highlighted in another item below, and approval of GO TO 2040/TIP Conformity Analysis and TIP Amendments.

Both the Local and the Regional Coordinating Committees met prior to the joint meeting. Please click on the respective links for the meeting materials.

Local Technical Assistance. On Wednesday, the CMAP Board voted to approve the second wave of projects through our Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program. After receiving over 100 proposals, CMAP will work on 48 new projects led by counties, municipalities, and nongovernmental organizations to help implement recommendations from GO TO 2040. The program's first year saw the start of 65 local projects, of which 15 have been completed. For this second year of LTA, CMAP emphasized projects involving multijurisdictional coordination of partnerships between local governments and community-based organizations. For more details (including a list of projects), visit www.cmap.illinois.gov/lta and read this press release. LTA was established shortly after GO TO 2040's adoption two years ago with a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Policy Updates. We described a peer exchange hosted by CMAP last month with transportation implementers from across the region to discuss their agencies' approaches to capital programming. Our blog post highlighted the North Shore Council of Mayors' performance-based programming as a best practice example. We also covered the Illinois Innovation Index's annual report. Moving forward, the Index will be published on a quarterly basis.

Erroneous email. Yesterday, a land-use committee meeting announcement was erroneously sent to our Weekly Update distribution list. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Other News and Announcements
 

Congratulations, Resurrection Project. Yesterday I attended a ribbon cutting for the Resurrection Project's new student housing building, La Casa, at 1815 S. Paulina in Chicago. It is an innovative model for housing that provides students with benefits and resources to navigate college life while receiving academic support and leadership training. Congratulations to the Resurection Project and its CEO Raul Raymundo, who also serves our region as one of the CMAP Board's current and original members.

LTA in the news. Patch described CMAP's efforts to help Lake County support sustainable local food, including our recently launched local food systems microsite and video at www.cmap.illinois.gov/food. The Daily Herald covered the first public meeting held for the development of a lifestyle corridor plan for the Village of Antioch. Residents can provide input to the plan by visiting www.antioch.metroquest.com.

CMAQ in the news. The Daily Herald and Progressive Railroading described an overpass project in West Chicago, which received partial funding through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program. The project is one of many in the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) program, implementation of which is supported in GO TO 2040.

EI2 in the news. Oak Leaves columnist Felicia Dechter wrote about her experience attending one of the Energy Impact Illinois (EI2) community outreach events. See below for a reminder about the current rebate program.

Public comment. Comments can be submitted on the Chicago - Detroit/Pontiac Passenger Rail Corridor Program Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement through October 15. For those who were unable to attend the public scoping meetings, there is a self-guided on-line meeting.

CMAP Blogs

Green Signals. CMAP’s transportation operations blog informed readers of an upcoming workshop on localized bottleneck reduction.

Soles and Spokes. CMAP’s bike-ped planning blog featured the National Complete Streets Coalition’s report “Complete Streets Policy Analysis 2011: Inclusive, Diverse, Accountable.” The report offers a “year in review” for Complete Streets policies nationwide, documenting the rate at which policies were adopted at all levels of government, detailing specifics of certain policies, and indicating the best policies and practices across the country.

Reminders

EI2 rebates. Energy Impact Illinois (EI2) is offering rebates up to $1750 (an estimated 70-percent cost savings) for upgrades you can make to improve the comfort of your home. For more information, contact Emily Plagman at eplagman@cmap.illinois.gov. To see if you qualify for the rebate, please call 1-855-9-IMPACT.

GreenTown. An event to help create sustainable communities, GreenTown, will be held October 18-19 in Highland Park. CMAP municipalities can receive a group municipal rate of $55.

Transportation and trees workshop. On October 24 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Morton Arboretum and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will host “Transportation, Trees, and Vegetation” at IDOT District 1 offices (201 West Center Court, Schaumburg).

Register now: Pedestrian Facility Accessibility Workshop November 1-2. CMAP will host a Soles and Spokes Workshop, “Designing Pedestrian Facilities for Accessibility,” on November 1-2, 2012. Participants will learn how to apply guidelines and policies developed under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act to pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way.

ArcView workshops. CMAP periodically offers a Two-Day Basic ArcView 10 Workshop, and dates are set for October 24 to 25, November 28 to 29, and January 9 to 10. Attendance at each workshop is limited to five people, so register early. The cost is $350. To register, please contact Jan Drennan (jdrennan@cmap.illinois.gov).

Events

CitiesAlive Green Roof and Wall Conference
October 17-20, 2012
Congress Plaza Hotel: 520 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
Hosted by the City of Chicago and Green Roofs for Healthy Cities
More information

Soles and Spokes workshop: Designing Pedestrian Facilities for Accessibility
November 1-2, 2012
CMAP: 233 S Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago
Hosted by CMAP
More information

UIC Urban Forum
December 6, 2012
UIC Forum: 725 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago
Hosted by the University of Illinois at Chicago
More information