Potholes, slow trains and buses and crumbling bridges are all taking their toll on our patience.
Illinois needs $43 billion over the next 10 years to fix its crumbling transportation infrastructure. That's a lot of money—it's also doable.
On July 19, Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) President MarySue Barrett sat down with WGN Radio's Justin Kaufmann for his show The Download, where she's been joining him monthly for a segment called "How to Improve [blank]."
Her message? Kicking the can down the road isn't going to work anymore. The longer we wait, the bigger the pricetag when we hit a serious crisis. The portion of our roads in good condition has fallen from the standard of 90 percent to only 79 percent in 2015. Without action, this will decline to 62 percent by 2021.
She also celebrated the progress of legislation that would help fund big transportation projects, and urged Illinoisans to vote yes in November for a transportation lockbox—keeping transportation dollars for transportation projects only.
This was MarySue's third talk with Justin; she also talked to him in May about why the Chicago region is losing population and June about government effectiveness. She'll be joining him the third Tuesday of every month to talk about how to fix what's not working in (and for) our region. Tune in to WGN Radio 720 AM!
Don't miss Executive Vice President Peter Skosey talking with Andrew Stern for Business Insider's United States of Disrepair video. Here's why the U.S.'s infrastructure is in such bad shape—and why that matters to you.