Table of Contents

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

First Off... 

Draft GO TO 2040 plan.  The region's draft plan has been posted for a week, with its public comment period continuing through August 6.  CMAP staff has been meeting with stakeholders, this week emphasizing McHenry County.  We appreciate your feedback, so please keep it coming, whether on the web, by email to info@cmap.illinois.gov, or by postal mail to CMAP, ATTN: GO TO 2040 Comments, 233 S. Wacker Dr., Suite 800, Chicago, IL, 60606.  Feedback will also be accepted at a number of open houses around the region. 

Bike Week.  Today CMAP was the grateful recipient of this year’s public agency award by Mayor Daley's Bicycle Advisory Council.  The award is given annually to the individual, public agency, and corporation that support Chicago's efforts to become the most bicycle-friendly city in the U.S.  What a great way to cap off Bike to Work Week.

Biking and walking.  Speaking of healthy living, the Federal Highway Administration reports that biking and walking trips have increased 25 percent nationally since 2001.  Last year the federal government doubled its funding for bicycle and pedestrian programs, to $1.2 billion annually, though not without some controversy.  Read more about the U.S. Department of Transportation's revised "bike-ped" policy.

FY 2010-2015 Transportation Improvement Program comment period.  The draft of the FY 2010-2015 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is now available for public comment through August 6, 2010.  The TIP implements the transportation policies and programs of the GO TO 2040 comprehensive regional plan.  It is made up of over 2,000 specific transit, road, bicycle, and pedestrian projects to be implemented in the next six years.  You may also comment on the TIP at one of our open houses across the region this summer.  The final TIP will be presented to CMAP's Board and MPO Policy Committee for approval in October.

Events

Yellow Line groundbreaking.  On June 21, Skokie officials will break ground on the Oakton Street Station on CTA’s Yellow Line.  Construction is expected to be completed in fall 2011.  Of the roughly $20 million construction cost, $14.5 million is funded through CMAP's Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program.  The new station is adjacent to the Illinois Science + Technology Park, a research campus with firms employing 1,000 people. GO TO 2040 supports improved access to transit and transit-supportive land use, two objectives that the Oakton station will help to achieve.

Other News and Announcements

Tracking the stimulus.  The Regional ARRA Recovery Council completed a report on the status of select Recovery Act programs and their impacts in our region.  Unprecedented amounts of data are publically available through the Recovery.gov site, as well as through the State of Illinois’ Recovery website.  This report summarizes the data to provide a snapshot of implementation and describes key observations, successes, and challenges for programs related to workforce, housing, and energy and weatherization. The report also includes recommendations for consideration to address challenges and support successful program implementation.  The report includes both a quantitative summary of recipient reporting data and a qualitative descriptions provided by the Regional ARRA Recovery Council.

FLIP in the news.  The Sun-Times Group's Grayslake Review had a story about our Future Leaders in Planning (FLIP) program and Anna Yoder, a participant from 2009-2010.  FLIP is a high school leadership development program for students interested in learning about and contributing to a better future for our region.  The deadline for applications has been extended to August 13, so please continue to forward the application to potentially interested high schools (or their families and teachers).

Knight Foundation rewards municipal data project.  The Knight Foundation recently announced recipients of its grants awarded each year to innovative projects.  One grant went to the San Francisco-based CityTracking project, which will build off of awardees Stamen Design’s web project, Crimespotting.  With CityTracking, users will be able to use open data resources on everything from crime statistics to 311-call information to generate easily-sharable visualizations.  CMAP is a fan of projects that encourage data sharing, and among the GO TO 2040 plan's priorities is to increase Access to Information. 

More data news.  Representatives Mike Quigley of northeastern Illinois and Darrell Issa of southern California recently announced the creation of a bipartisan Congressional Transparency Caucus.  The caucus supports across-the-aisle collaboration and will assist representatives in understanding transparency issues.  Rep. Quigley also recently introduced the Transparency in Government Act (H.R. 4983), which would bring unprecedented access and accountability to the federal government.  The caucus has posted its Transparency Principles.

Against the flow.  The Chicago Tribune reported on the difficulties of reverse commuting.  Jon Hilkevitch also wrote about projected benefits of high-speed rail investments.

Economic impact analysis webinar.  On June 16, the Economic Development Research Group sponsored a webinar on the role that economic impact analysis plays in planning efforts.  CMAP's Brett Baden was a presenter, and a recording of the webinar is now available online.

Emergency aid for state and local governments.  On June 12, President Obama sent a letter to congressional leaders requesting nearly $50 billion for emergency aid to state and local governments to avoid "massive layoffs of teachers, police, and firefighters."  Read more at the Huffington Post.  

Migration patterns.  Forbes magazine used 2008 IRS data to visualize migration patterns from every county in the country for that year.  Check out their interactive map to see where more than 10 million people were moving to and from just two years ago and how much annual income was lost or gained by those moves.

Project Notifications.  CMAP issues a monthly Project Notification to apprise state legislators, local government officials, and other interested parties of applications for federal and state grants that may have an impact on their communities.  The most recent Project Notifications are available online.  For more information, please contact Jamie Krell (jkrell@cmap.illinois.gov or 312-386-8658).

CMAP Blogs

GO TO 2040 blog.  We featured a festive photo of the ticker tape parade for the Chicago Blackhawks in the Loop. 

Recovery blog.  Please take a short survey we've posted to help us transition the Economic Recovery Update newsletter to include topics on policies and programs related to GO TO 2040.  Your responses will allow us to make the new updates most useful for you.

Soles and Spokes.  This week, CMAP’s bike-ped blog reminded and encouraged readers to ride during Bike to Work Week.  We announced two upcoming webinars: one on implementing Safe Routes to School programs in low-income communities, and another, offered by TRB, on state DOTs' role in implementing transportation demand management programs.  In the later post, we offered readers a link to our own Strategy Paper on TDM.

Reminders 

A Day for Zach.  Monday, June 28, will be “A Day for Zach” golf outing to benefit the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago (EFGC) and its week-long “Camp Blackhawk” for children and teens with epilepsy.  Visit the event web page for new information about raffle prizes and auction items, including Sox tickets, Cubs tickets, a Bettinardi Black Carbon Putter, a foursome of golf each at Seven Bridges Golf Club in Woodridge (site of the June 28 outing) and at Saint Andrews Golf & Country Club in West Chicago.  The event is in memory of Zach Pfingston, who attended Camp Blackhawk and counted golf among his many sporting interests.  Whether or not you can attend, please consider making a donation to the EFGC. Contact Jack Pfingston (312-386-8617 or jpfingston@cmap.illinois.gov).

Municipal Planning Survey.  We would like to sincerely thank our municipal partners for taking the time to complete our new biennial survey of municipalities. As of today, the survey has been completed by 146 municipalities, representing 79 percent of the region’s population (67 percent of the suburban population).  We are still accepting surveys.  If you work for a municipality that hasn't replied yet, please visit www.cmap.illinois.gov/cmapmunisurvey.aspx to complete the survey online or contact Sandy Perpignani (sperpignani@cmap.illinois.gov or 312-386-8648) for assistance. Survey results will be rolled out this fall as part of Regional Indicators Project website launch, a partnership of CMAP and the Chicago Community Trust.