First Transportation Plan Since 1940 Launches in Chicago’s Cook County

Steven Vance reports on the initial efforts in Chicago to develop a regional Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). The Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, Pace, and the Chicago Department of Transportation are all at the table for the planning process, which is expected to take 18 months.

In a statement about the “Connecting Cook County” planning process, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle focused on the plan’s potential to improve on the historic status quo of transportation planning the Cook County area. “We can no longer continue to make one-off transportation investments. We need a coherent strategy,” said Preckwinkle.

The statement also described the multi-modal focus of the LRTP, and the need to tie transportation planning to community and economic development. The current public outreach includes a public survey that uses the MetroQuest platform for tagging ideas and problems on a map of the area.