Employers group releases Illinois FIRST Year 3 progress report
Anyone who has recently enjoyed a
ride on a comfortable new Pace bus, found the correct train thanks to an
automated announcement at a rehabbed CTA station or experienced a smoother ride
down the Stevenson Expressway has benefited from Illinois FIRST.
The program has proven critical to
Illinois’ overburdened road and transit infrastructure.
In Implementing Illinois FIRST: Highway and RTA Transit Funding Year
3 Progress Report
, released today,
Business Leaders for Transportation highlights the initiative’s accomplishments
over the last three years, while recommending necessary improvements.
It also makes the case for a new or
renewed infrastructure funding program when Illinois FIRST expires in 2004 —
which will be especially important for providing the state match required to
receive federal dollars Congress allocates in the next transportation spending
bill later this year.
Illinois FIRST reduced a backlog of
infrastructure repair and improvement projects, and provided the required local
match for federal transit dollars, earning northeastern Illinois more federal
grant agreements for transit projects than any other region in the nation.
But, support for the program eroded as
public attention focused on apparent misuse of Illinois FIRST funds for
non-infrastructure projects.
Business Leaders for Transportation urges the establishment of criteria
to use in the selection of future projects.
“Illinois FIRST has been critical
to ensuring that infrastructure improvements are made in our
state. Not renewing the program risks
stalling the progress of recent years,” said Stan Pepper, consultant for
Pepper Construction and chair of the Metropolitan Planning Council
Transportation
Committee.
“Consequently,” Pepper said, “a critical area of concern for us is Illinois’ lack of
a comprehensive transportation
plan. In order to maximize the value
of this program, a comprehensive plan needs to be
developed. This will ensure that money
expended will be wisely
invested.”
As it evaluates progress made during the
third year of Illinois FIRST, the Business Leaders coalition is calling on the
state to begin planning for a new investment package that maintains a source of
funding for transportation and improves accountability and results.
Among the recommendations, the Chicago
region and the state of Illinois need a coordinated strategy built on stable,
predictable, and on-going planning and funding from local, state and federal
sources.
“We saw in the last lapse
(1994-1999) of a state infrastructure package that the stop-and-go approach
doesn’t work,” said Gerald Roper, president and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber
of Commerce.
“In order to keep this
region growing as an economic center, we need an efficient and well-maintained
transportation network. That is why businesses locate here and stay
here.”
“In order to make it an efficient
transportation system that works for business and the region’s residents, we
need to change the status quo in planning and financing infrastructure
projects,” said George A. Ranney, Jr., president & CEO of Chicago Metropolis
2020.
“The General Assembly must
ensure that transportation and land use planning are coordinated so that
infrastructure dollars are spent wisely and prudently in the future,” he
said.
“Business Leaders urges the
development of a 20-year, fully integrated transportation and land use
improvement plan that incorporates state goals for growth and development.
Projects included in the plan should be
evaluated against a range of criteria, including congestion relief,
accessibility, economic development, and planning and land use.
How we design and implement projects in
Illinois needs to be reevaluated, with more emphasis placed on roadway designs
that incorporate pedestrian use and transit access and are sensitive to the
built and natural environments.”
With a lean state budget and an anemic
economy, “finding revenue sources for a renewal of Illinois FIRST will require
creativity,” said MarySue Barrett, president of Metropolitan Planning
Council.
“In the past, Business
Leaders for Transportation has assessed a variety of funding sources — from
gasoline taxes to user fees — to determine the most fair and effective way to
keep the system moving.
We plan to
play a similarly constructive role in identifying revenue sources and building
broad support for a new package.”
Illinois’ transportation system is key to
the region’s mobility, economic vitality and national dominance as the country’s
transportation hub.
Illinois FIRST
allowed the region to catch up on improving the system for today’s needs.
The next program should work on
providing the framework for tomorrow’s passengers and
freight.
Click here to download a copy of Implementing Illinois FIRST:
Highway and RTA Transit Funding Year 3 Progress Report
. For more information on Business
Leaders for Transportation
, contact:
- Karyn Romano,
Metropolitan Planning Council, at (312) 863-6005
- Rob Nash
, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, at
(312) 494-6787 or
- Jim LaBelle
, Chicago Metropolis 2020, at (312) 332-8156
Business Leaders for Transportation was
created in 1997 to serve as a collective voice for Chicago-area employers,
providing advocacy for policy and funding on surface transportation issues
critical to the region. Led by the Metropolitan Planning Council, Chicago
Metropolis 2020 and Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Business Leaders for
Transportation is a growing alliance of 100 business organizations representing
more than 10,000 regional employers.
Modifications to CTA rail stations — like this one at Western Avenue on
the Blue Line to O'Hare — to make them compliant with the American with
Disabilities Act, were among the significant 2002 accomplishments of Illinois
FIRST.
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