Randy Blankenhorn

STB hearing. At 10:00 a.m. Eastern time on November 18, 2008, in Washington, DC, the Surface Transportation Board will hold a public meeting on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) now being prepared in Canadian National Railway Company and Grand Trunk Corporation--Control--EJ&E West Company, STB Finance Docket No. 35087. During the public meeting, the Board Members will be briefed by, and will discuss the EIS with, staff of the agency's Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA). The meeting will be open for public observation, but not public participation. The location will be the STB's Hearing Room on the first floor of the agency's headquarters at Patriots Plaza, 395 E Street, S.W., Washington, DC.  A video broadcast of the hearing will be accessible via the STB's web homepage at http://www.stb.dot.gov, under Information Center/Webcast/Live Video. Read more in the STB news release.

GO TO 2040 blog entries. Our latest posts are from Lindsay Banks regarding the Great Lakes ecosystem and from Erin Aleman and Diana Torres recap of the recent Traffic Expo.

Mentoring award. Congratulations to CMAP's Cathy Holland-Hatcher, who will be honored on November 18 by the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) at Whitney Young High School.  FBLA plans to recognize CMAP "for its many years of mentoring Whitney Young students in the Cooperative Education Work Study Program."  According to Whitney Young faculty member Sue Heaney's letter to Cathy, "The gifts that you and your colleagues have given to our students are immeasurable." 

Reminder: Soles and Spokes Workshop. From 8:30 a.m. to noon on December 11, 2008, CMAP will host its 2008 Soles and Spokes Workshop, titled "The Nuts and Bolts of Implementing a Local Bikeway Plan."  The location is CMAP's offices in Suite 800 of Sears Tower, 233 South Wacker Dr.,  Chicago, IL 60606. This half-day workshop will cover the basic steps of developing and implementing a local bikeway network, including route selection, directional signing, network planning and facility engineering. For more information, see the Workshop Flyer and Agenda (opens 316KB PDF).  The workshop is being conducted in partnership with the Illinois Section of ASCE, Transportation Group. A fee of $25 is required, and registration will be available at ASCE's website starting Monday, November 17. For more information, contact John O'Neal (312-386-8822 or joneal@cmap.illinois.gov).

Corridor Development Initiative. CMAP partners with the Metropolitan Planning Council in the Corridor Development Initiative, an innovative participatory planning process that allows communities to assess and proactively plan for real world development scenarios. In this three-part planning process, community members are actively engaged in weighing all of the various options that go into development decision making. The initiative helps to educate participants on issues such as density, affordable housing, architectural design and the true cost of development along the way. Rather than simply reacting to a developer's proposal, communities learn to attract development that fits a local vision. See a new YouTube video posted by MPC, describing the recent Lawndale Corridor Development Initiative activities. (CMAP's Erin Aleman makes an appearance in the video.)

GO TO 2040 Community Conversations. Please see http://www.goto2040.org/conversations.aspx for an updated list of Community Conversations that CMAP has scheduled for residents to discuss the GO TO 2040 campaign. On Monday, November 17, 2008, GO TO 2040 and the Community Conversations will be featured on radio station WDCB, 90.9 FM, in news segments airing from 5:00 to 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 to 6:35 p.m. The following meetings have been scheduled:

• Elmhurst Public Library (125 S. Prospect Ave., Elmhurst) on Monday, November 17, 2008, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. (Please contact Diana Torres for more information at 312-386-8774 or dtorres@cmap.illinois.gov) 
• Elmhurst Public Library (125 S. Prospect Ave., Elmhurst) on Monday, November 17 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. (Please contact Diana Torres for more information at 312-386-8774 or dtorres@cmap.illinois.gov)
• Messenger Library of North Aurora (113 Oak Street, North Aurora) on Tuesday, November 18 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. (Please contact Diana Torres for more information at 312-386-8774 or dtorres@cmap.illinois.gov)
• CMAP Offices (233 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 800 Sears Tower, Chicago) on Friday, November 21 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Contact Ylda Pineyro at 312-386-8670 or ypineyro@cmap.illinois.gov)