Bill Text: IL HJR0048 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: States that the Interstate 290 Corridor is a project of state, regional, and national significance that will improve multimodal transportation and connectivity and promote economic development. Further states that the goals of reconstructing the Interstate 290 Corridor should include enhancements to racial equity, promotion of open space, community enhancement, and sustainable and innovative practices. Formally requests that the U.S. Department of Transportation provide sufficient resources to the Illinois Department of Transportation to begin engineering and advance this project expeditiously.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-07-18 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HJR0048 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-HJR0048-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Esteemed American architect Daniel Burnham | ||||||
3 | envisioned the City of Chicago's future in the 1909 Plan Of | ||||||
4 | Chicago with transportation, green space, and civic facility | ||||||
5 | projects to beautify, connect, and harmonize the city center | ||||||
6 | to the surrounding neighborhoods and specifically identified | ||||||
7 | Congress Street as the "grand axis" to the west; and
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8 | WHEREAS, The Burnham plan, sponsored by the Commercial | ||||||
9 | Club of Chicago, influenced how the city developed and set a | ||||||
10 | standard for modern urban planning at a time of tremendous | ||||||
11 | growth for Chicago, the State of Illinois, and the nation; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Chicago's growth, as then America's second city | ||||||
13 | and a major industrial and business leader at the center of the | ||||||
14 | nation with a growing and diverse population, ultimately | ||||||
15 | resulted in the Chicago City Council approval of plans for a | ||||||
16 | comprehensive superhighway system in 1940, to include and | ||||||
17 | begin with the Westside route or Congress Expressway; and
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18 | WHEREAS, The construction of the individual sections of | ||||||
19 | the Congress Expressway were completed between 1954 and 1960, | ||||||
20 | with Mannheim Road to Racine Avenue being one of the oldest | ||||||
21 | sections of the region's highway infrastructure and the only | ||||||
22 | expressway to run under a U.S. Post Office and incorporate |
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1 | both a movable bridge over the Chicago River and a rapid | ||||||
2 | transit line within the same corridor; and
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3 | WHEREAS, In 1964, the Chicago City Council renamed the | ||||||
4 | Congress Expressway after former President Dwight D. | ||||||
5 | Eisenhower, honoring his public service as well as his vision | ||||||
6 | in proposing the interstate highway system in 1955; the | ||||||
7 | roadway would later be nicknamed "the Ike" or I-290 to | ||||||
8 | designate federal interstate 290; and
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9 | WHEREAS, The Eisenhower Expressway was an engineering and | ||||||
10 | transportation achievement, but construction displaced | ||||||
11 | Chicago's Near West Side neighborhoods, including Greektown | ||||||
12 | and Little Italy, and, to the west, profoundly altered a | ||||||
13 | Jewish neighborhood in West Garfield Park, which had been | ||||||
14 | nicknamed the Jewish West Side, the Austin neighborhood of | ||||||
15 | Chicago, the Village of Oak Park, and the Village of Forest | ||||||
16 | Park, where 3,500 graves had to be relocated from the Forest | ||||||
17 | Home and Concordia cemeteries; and
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18 | WHEREAS, The Eisenhower Expressway construction led to the | ||||||
19 | departure of 13,000 families and 400 businesses from Chicago | ||||||
20 | alone and the removal of over 100 buildings in Oak Park, where | ||||||
21 | over time the below grade stretch of highway derisively became | ||||||
22 | known as "the Ditch"; the displacement of neighborhoods in | ||||||
23 | Chicago contributed to an eventual demographic shift in the |
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1 | percentage of African-American families concentrated in | ||||||
2 | impacted areas; and
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3 | WHEREAS, The Eisenhower Expressway remains the western | ||||||
4 | gateway to Chicago from the western suburbs and a primary link | ||||||
5 | to O'Hare airport and the regional transportation network and | ||||||
6 | still includes the vital assets of the Chicago Transit | ||||||
7 | Authority (CTA) Blue Line, as well as freight railroad lines; | ||||||
8 | Chicago and the regional transportation networks centered | ||||||
9 | therein remain a transportation hub of the nation to this day; | ||||||
10 | and
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11 | WHEREAS, The Eisenhower Expressway, which is now more than | ||||||
12 | 60 years old, was originally designed to handle 40,000 | ||||||
13 | vehicles per day and now carries over 200,000 vehicles per | ||||||
14 | day; it was ranked as the most congested highway in the United | ||||||
15 | States in the INRIX 2020 Global Traffic Scorecard, and the | ||||||
16 | average weekday ridership on the CTA Blue Line branch that | ||||||
17 | spans the Eisenhower corridor increased by 8 percent between | ||||||
18 | 2009 and 2019, from 26,496 to 28,543; and
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19 | WHEREAS, The Eisenhower Expressway reconstruction and | ||||||
20 | modernization is a priority in the region's long-range | ||||||
21 | transportation plan; in 2017, the Federal Highway | ||||||
22 | Administration signed a Final Environmental Impact Statement | ||||||
23 | and a Record of Decision; the CTA Blue Line and stations need |
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1 | modernization and repair and could explore further extension | ||||||
2 | to accommodate growth in communities farther west; I-290 and | ||||||
3 | CTA improvement and reconstruction costs are expected to | ||||||
4 | exceed $4 billion; and
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5 | WHEREAS, The Eisenhower and CTA Blue Line reconstruction | ||||||
6 | and improvements are, and should be, planned, designed, | ||||||
7 | constructed, and managed as a multimodal, intermodal corridor, | ||||||
8 | maximizing transportation assets, enhancing equity, | ||||||
9 | connectivity, access, and opportunity for residents, | ||||||
10 | commuters, and marginalized populations and protecting the | ||||||
11 | safety of all users; and
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12 | WHEREAS, The Eisenhower and CTA Blue Line projects are an | ||||||
13 | opportunity to reconnect communities and repair racial | ||||||
14 | inequities and displacement caused by historic construction | ||||||
15 | that emphasized transportation efficiencies without attention | ||||||
16 | to racial equity, livability, community enhancement, and | ||||||
17 | preservation; and
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18 | WHEREAS, The Eisenhower and CTA Blue Line reconstruction | ||||||
19 | is an opportunity to expand open space and sustainable | ||||||
20 | multimodal connectivity to develop alternative individual and | ||||||
21 | mass transportation options, such as dedicated pedestrian and | ||||||
22 | bike lanes designed to be interconnected but separated from | ||||||
23 | vehicle lanes and rapid bus transit and the use of bridge |
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1 | decking and innovative technologies; and
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2 | WHEREAS, It is in the best interest of the State of | ||||||
3 | Illinois to prioritize the planning, design, and | ||||||
4 | reconstruction of the federal interstate I-290 Eisenhower | ||||||
5 | Expressway and CTA Blue Line and obtain financial and | ||||||
6 | technical assistance and partnership from the Illinois | ||||||
7 | Congressional Delegation and the U.S. Department of | ||||||
8 | Transportation; therefore, be it
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9 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
10 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | ||||||
11 | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Interstate 290 Corridor is | ||||||
12 | a project of state, regional, and national significance that | ||||||
13 | will improve multimodal transportation and connectivity and | ||||||
14 | promote economic development; and be it further
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15 | RESOLVED, That the goals of reconstructing the Interstate | ||||||
16 | 290 Corridor should include enhancements to racial equity, | ||||||
17 | promotion of open space, community enhancement, and | ||||||
18 | sustainable and innovative practices; and be it further
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19 | RESOLVED, That we formally request that the U.S. | ||||||
20 | Department of Transportation provide sufficient resources to | ||||||
21 | the Illinois Department of Transportation to begin engineering | ||||||
22 | and advance this project expeditiously; and be it further
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1 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
2 | delivered to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and all | ||||||
3 | members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.
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