Illinois, Cook County, and city of Chicago officials were disappointed in their first effort to attract FASTLANE funding authorized by the U.S Department Transportation
"Local transportation and rail officials will have to look for a new pot of money to untangle car and rail traffic on Chicago's South Side after the federal government rejected a $110 million grant request," reports Mary Wisniewski.
The Illinois Department of Transportation, Cook County, the city of Chicago, and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning applied for a FASTLANE grant "to create grade separations at Archer and Kenton avenues, 95th Street and Eggleston Avenue, and Columbus and Maplewood avenues," with the goal of building "underpasses or overpasses to separate cars from freight traffic."
In another outstanding act of federal acronym creation, FASTLANE stands for Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term Achievement of National Efficiencies. The FASTLANE grants were created as part of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, approved in December 2015. As for projects that will receive some of the grant money, Wisniewski reports that "DOT picked 18 projects from other states out of 212 applications for a total of about $760 million. Awards will be announced after a 60-day congressional review period."
Read the full story: Local, rail officials won't get $110 million grant for South Side projects
President Trump's Other Infrastructure Plan—Defunding Grant Programs
The showman captured America's attention with a promise to "make America great again" with a $1 trillion infrastructure plan. Receiving scant attention are the infrastructure grant programs he'll cut in order to fund massive defense spending.
DOT Awards 77% of BUILD Grants to Road Projects
Trump’s DOT is directing 87 percent of total grant dollars to states that backed the President in the last election.
$1.5 Billion in BUILD Grants Funding for Transportation Projects Awarded
The U.S. Department of Transportation has favored grant funding for rural communities under the Trump administration.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
In Texas, data centers are swallowing promised parkland
Residents who moved to Taylor, Texas for a rural community now have to contend with three data centers in their backyard.
How a Chicago-sized wind farm beat the odds and powered on
The project spanned five presidential administrations and a standoff with a U.S. military base.
MTA gives itself 30 days to transform pit into basketball court
The site has been under construction since 2022; the city originally estimated it would finish the court in 2024.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority