Table of Contents

• First Off . . .
• Events
• Other News and Announcements
• CMAP Blogs
• Reminders

First Off...  

CMAP Meetings.  Both the CMAP Board and the MPO Policy Committee met this week.  The major item on their agendas was a review of the draft GO TO 2040 plan, covered in our next item.  Additionally, they approved the FY 2011 Unified Work Program. The CMAP Board also approved our FY 2011 Comprehensive Budget.  The Board is not meeting in July and the next meeting is August 11, 2010.  The Policy Committee’s next meeting is September 9, 2010.

GO TO 2040 comment period.  The draft GO TO 2040 comprehensive regional plan is now available for public comment through August 6, 2010.  Based on nearly three years of research, deliberation, and public input, the plan recommends action in four themes: Livable Communities, Regional Mobility, Human Capital, and Efficient Governance. By implementing GO TO 2040, our region will:

• Emphasize support for existing communities. 
• Encourage more compact, sustainable development patterns.
• Increase the efficiency and transparency of government through better decision making.
• Reduce congestion by emphasizing modernization (rather than expansion) of the current transportation system.
• Give residents more options for getting around, including transit, walking, and bicycling.
• Improve parks and preserve open space.
• Reduce consumption of energy and water. 

Have your say by commenting or attending one of 10 open houses across the region this summer.  The final GO TO 2040 plan will be presented to CMAP's Board and MPO Policy Committee for approval in October, when the plan's implementation phase will begin. 

Water 2050 newsletter.  Highlights of our latest bimonthly Water 2050 newsletter include local projects that reduced nonpoint source pollution in the region's rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands, as well as information about water and wastewater rate setting training that CMAP staff received.

CR3 update.  CMAP continues to work closely with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Chicago Department of Environment to begin implementation of the Chicago Region Retrofit Ramp-up (CR3) program.  A detailed summary is now available online that provides information on the scope, goals, and objectives of the program.  We will begin releasing requests for proposals (RFPs) later this summer, if you'd like to receive email notifications for future CMAP RFPs, please visit our sign-up page.  In addition, CMAP has a job opening for a CR3 project manager.

Events

Economic impact analysis webinar.  On June 16, the Economic Development Research Group is sponsoring a webinar on the role that economic impact analysis plays in planning efforts.  Presenters include CMAP's Brett Baden.  Registration is online.

BRT roundtable.  On June 16, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) will host a roundtable, "Bus Rapid Transit:  Our Ticket to Livable Cities."  The cost of the roundtable, which includes lunch, is $15 for MPC donors and $30 for all others.

Green webinar.  On July 6, CMAP will host a webinar, "What Does Green Mean? Recognizing the Real Deal in Products, Processes, and Purchasing" at 10:00 a.m. (CDT).  Participants will learn how to tell when products are truly green versus those just claiming to be (greenwashing), as well as about an innovative green firm and a regional web resource to help find the products you're looking for. Register now or contact Lori Heringa (312-386-8621 or lheringa@cmap.illinois.gov).

Foreclosure event.  The impact of the foreclosure crisis continues to be front and center for the Chicago region’s towns, villages, and cities.  The 2010 Regional Home Ownership Preservation Initiative Annual Plenary on July 15 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago will be an opportunity to hear from experts on economic and foreclosure trends, as well as a chance to share information about successes, challenges, and emerging initiatives from peers and practitioners throughout the region.  For more information and registration instructions, click here.

Other News and Announcements

GO TO 2040 in the news.  I spoke to the Transportation Management Association of Lake-Cook last week about GO TO 2040 along with CMAP Board vice chair Elliott Hartstein, mayor of Buffalo Grove.  We were joined by Lake County Board chair Suzi Schmidt.  Grayslake Review published an article about it.

Aurora revitalization efforts.  The Beacon-News featured community planning on the east side of Aurora, facilitated by CMAP's Full Circle project.

New interactive map.  CMAP recently updated its functional class and federal aid code map to reflect the new Illinois Department of Transportation IRIS file published this spring.  Explore the new information at http://data.cmap.illinois.gov/roadways/.

Household travel report.  CMAP issued a new report examining household travel within the northeastern Illinois region and attempts to determine how trip making may have changed since 1990.  The main source of data for this analysis is the 2008 Travel Tracker household travel survey, which was conducted for the northeastern Illinois region during 2007 and 2008.  In addition to reporting on basic findings for 2008 travel mode choice and trip purposes, the report compares 2008 survey data to 1990 northeastern Illinois household travel survey and U.S. Census Bureau data. 

Comment on green infrastructure.  The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is accepting comments on the draft report of the Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act until June 15.  Comments should be directed to the Illinois EPA Bureau of Water (P.O. Box 19276, Springfield, IL 62794-9276) or amy.walkenbach@illinois.gov.

FLIP deadline extended.  Thanks to all who applied for Future Leaders in Planning (FLIP), our high school leadership development program for students interested in learning about and contributing to a better future for our region.  We've decided to extend the application deadline to August 13, so please continue to pass along applications to any potentially interested high schoolers (or their families and teachers).
 

CMAP Blogs

GO TO 2040 blog.  On Monday we featured a photo in motion from the Washington & Wells CTA train station.

Recovery blog.  In case you missed it, the latest Economic Recovery Update came out this Wednesday.  We also blogged about the transition of the newsletter to include topics on policies and programs related to GO TO 2040 and a short survey we've posted to help us make the new updates most useful for you.

Soles and Spokes.  This week, CMAP’s bike-ped blog encouraged readers to find out where their states ranked in the League of American Bicyclists third annual Bicycle Friendly State ranking.  Blog items include the adoption of a regional Complete Streets policy by our neighbor, the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC).  We also posted news and a video about Madison, Wisconsin’s experiment with “bike boxes”’ at intersections throughout their city.  And finally, our readers learned about a new edition of AASHTO’s Guide Specifications for Design of Pedestrian Bridges.
 

Reminders

Municipal survey.  We are still accepting responses to the CMAP 2010 Municipal Plans, Programs, and Operations Surveys. See a map of 141 responding communities to date, representing 78 percent of the region's total population. We are still accepting your completed surveys.  If you haven't returned it yet, look for another copy in your mailbox soon.  Questionnaires may be submitted via mail, fax, email, or on the web. To begin, please visit www.cmap.illinois.gov/cmapmunisurvey.aspx. For assistance, please contact Sandy Perpignani (312-386-8648 or sperpignani@cmap.illinois.gov).