It shouldn’t be surprising that the Tribune’s two recent polls of suburban residents in the west and northwest suburbs found nearly identical results. Both found that 79 percent of respondents placed transportation as the most serious problem in their area.
It is time for the region to start taking innovative strategies to control traffic congestion. Continuing to build new roads and expanding existing roads should not be the only solutions considered. Here are a few ideas:
– There needs to be greater access to mass transit.
– We need to encourage development in areas where infrastructure already exists.
– We need tax credits to reclaim and redevelop contaminated land.
– We need to find better ways to increase access to jobs by city residents, including reverse commuting on existing Metra and Pace lines.
– We need to encourage development around mass transit.
Creative ideas are often spawned by interested citizens. There are two important things happening now that will affect which transportation projects will be funded. The Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS) has proposed a plan to address the region’s transportation needs through the year 2020. In addition, the federal transportation law, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), is up for reauthorization. There is currently a battle going on in Congress over whether ISTEA will allow regions to address traffic congestion creatively rather than continue road-building.
The Chicagoland Transportation and Air Quality Commission, a coalition of more than 103 organizations, is working hard to give citizens a voice in how regional transportation decisions are made. Both the new CATS plan and upcoming vote on ISTEA offer citizens a chance to get involved and not simply surrender to congestion.
