Too often, we get calls and letters from commuters who don’t know where else to turn after failing to receive satisfactory responses from the low-level transportation paper-shufflers responsible for serving the public. Sometimes, even, a traveler simply wants to put in a good word about a transit employee who went out of his or her way to be helpful, but the couch potatoes staffing the various toll-free transportation hot lines can’t be bothered to take down the information.
There is another and, hopefully, more effective, place to turn: the actual policy-makers who wield the power to make things happen and, in most cases, profess happiness in doing so. Although most of these little-known officials can be seen in action at the monthly meetings of the Chicago area’s various transportation boards, few individuals beyond reporters and transportation wonks attend such forums to seek out these VIPs.
Here, then, is a rundown of your transportation representatives, the jurisdictions that appointed them and information about how to initiate contact. Getting Around suggests that you pull out a magnifying glass and scissors, clip out the list and save it along with your favorite Ann Landers columns.
Chicago Transit Authority
Phone messages can be left with the board’s secretary at 312-664-7200, ext. 3030. Address written correspondence to a specific board member c/o the CTA, Merchandise Mart Plaza, Room 738, Chicago, Ill. 60654. Members of the CTA Board of Directors, who are paid $25,000 a year and serve seven-year terms, are: Valerie B. Jarrett (chairman, appointed by Chicago’s mayor); Karen M. Dichiser (City of Chicago); J. Douglas Donenfeld (State of Illinois); Susan A. Leonis (State of Illinois); Guadalupe A. Reyes (City of Chicago); vacancy (City of Chicago); vacancy (State of Illinois).
Metra
Address written correspondence c/o Metra, 547 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Ill. 60661. Members of Metra’s Board of Directors, who are paid $15,000 a year (the chairman receives $25,000) and serve four-year terms, are: Jeffrey R. Ladd, chairman; Lowell
E. Anderson, treasurer (suburban Cook County); Larry A. Huggins, director (City of Chicago); W. Warren Nugent, secretary (suburban Cook County); Gerald L. Porter, vice chairman (DuPage County); Joseph A. Tecson, director (suburban Cook County); and Donald A. Udstuen, director (appointed by the county board chairmen of Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties).
Pace
Messages for board members can be left with the Pace board secretary at 847-228-2452. Address written correspondence c/o Pace, 550 W. Algonquin Rd., Arlington Heights, Ill. 60005. Members of Pace’s Board of Directors, who are current or former municipal chief executives and are paid $10,000 a year ($15,000 for the chairman) for four-year terms, are: Florence Boone, chairman; James G. Bilder (southwest suburban Cook County); James C. Harris (south suburban Cook County); James Jimenez (Will County); Al Larson (northwest suburban Cook County); Betty Loren-Maltese (central suburban Cook County); Anna Montana (north-central suburban Cook County); Carl F. Roth (DuPage County); Robert R. Shields (Kane County); Vernon T. Squires (North Shore suburban Cook County); Carl Wehde (McHenry County); and Richard Welton (Lake County).
Regional Transportation Authority
The RTA is responsible for oversight of the CTA, Metra and Pace. Messages for board members can be left at 312-917-0700. Address written correspondence c/o the RTA, 181 W. Madison St., Suite 1900, Chicago, Ill. 60602. Members of the RTA Board of Directors, who are paid $25,000 a year and serve five-year terms, are: Thomas J. McCracken Jr., chairman; Arthur W. Angrist (DuPage County); Duane E. Carter (Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties); Herbert E. Gardner (suburban Cook County); Armando Gomez Sr. (City of Chicago); Valerie B. Jarrett (chairman of the Chicago Transit Authority); Mary M. McDonald (suburban Cook County); Frank R. Miller (Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties); Thomas H. Reece (City of Chicago); Michael Rosenberg (City of Chicago); Donald L. Totten (suburban Cook County); Douglas M. Troiani (suburban Cook County); and Rev. Addie L. Wyatt (City of Chicago).
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
Public information: 630-241-6800, ext. 2385. Address written correspondence c/o the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, One Authority Drive, Downers Grove, Ill. 60515. Members of the Toll Highway Authority, who are all appointed by the governor (no more than five may be from any one political party) are paid about $22,300 a year and serve four-year terms. The chairman is paid approximately $26,800 a year. The chairman is Julian D’Esposito and the board members are: James Banks, Roger Claar, William Dugan, Paula Fasseas, Thomas Fitzgibbon Sr., Robert Neal, Arthur Philip and Robert Turner.
Some additional useful contacts follow:
Chicago Department of Aviation
Mary Rose Loney, commissioner. O’Hare International Airport, P.O. Box 66142 Chicago, Ill. 60666, 773-686-2200. Midway Airport, 5700 S. Cicero Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60638. 773-767-0500. Meigs Field, 15th Street/Lakefront, Chicago, Ill. 60605. 312-744-4787.
Chicago Department of Transportation
Thomas Walker, commissioner. Information line, 312-744-3674.
Illinois Department of Transportation
Kirk Brown, state secretary of transportation. Expressway information (recorded message) 1-800-452-IDOT. Public information for the six-county Chicago area, 847-705-4079.
Illinois secretary of state
George Ryan, secretary of state. Information line, 312-793-1010.
Transpo notes
In a cost-cutting move that began Sunday, conductors have been eliminated on the CTA’s Red and Blue Line trains. As a safety precaution, however, an extra CTA employee is riding trains traveling through the subway. . . . Bryn Mawr Avenue, between Avondale Avenue and Northwest Highway, is closed through Saturday for railroad-crossing work. Traffic is being detoured via Avondale, Nagle and Northwest Highway. . . . State Street, between Congress Parkway and Archer Avenue, has lane reductions for installation of median planters. . . . Lane reductions continue at the Belmont Avenue/Sheridan Road/Lake Shore Drive intersection for an improvement project. . . . Several Getting Around readers report that some gas stations, especially those located off the expressways or in areas lacking competition, have resumed a despicable practice of charging premiums of up to 35 cents a gallon to customers who pay with plastic. Just in time to gouge holiday travelers!
Building a “super bridge”
Getting Around recommends that you tune in to WTTW-Ch. 11 at 8 p.m. Wednesday as the program “NOVA” documents the construction of the Clark Bridge over the Mississippi River, connecting Alton, Ill., and St. Charles County, Mo. The $86 million bridge, which opened in 1993, is 4,620 feet long with cable-stayed spans of 1,360 feet. The cable-stay design consists of large sprays of multi-strand cables flowing from a pair of pylons soaring 250 feet over the river. The extraordinary structure–only the second of its kind built over the Mighty Mississippi, carries four lanes of traffic and two paths for bicycles and pedestrians. It’s worth tuning in just to watch the massive concrete-and-steel crossing go up before your eyes in seconds–thanks to time-lapse photography condensed from a four-year period.
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Got a commuting question? See a problem on the area’s roads, trains or buses? Getting Around will address topics of general interest. Write to Getting Around, c/o Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611-4041. E-mail jhilkevitch@tribune.com
