The city of Chicago was working hard to win the federal funding while the Obama Administration is still in power.
"The Chicago Transit Authority has secured nearly $1.1 billion in federal grant money for major upgrades to North Side CTA tracks to reduce delays and overcrowding," report Mary Wisniewski and Nereida Moreno.
The federal funding required matching local funding, which required the city to quickly approve a new special taxing district. "The city had been working to land the grant before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in Jan. 20," add Wisniewski and Moreno. The taxing district is "expected to generate more than $851 million over the next 17 years"—almost all of which will go toward the North Side CTA project.
"The grant will be used to replace the track structure and improve bridges and viaducts between Lawrence and Bryn Mawr avenues," according to the article. The grant will also go toward upgraded signals between Belmont Avenue and Howard Street and "to build a 'flyover' that will separate the Red and Purple line tracks from the Brown Line tracks north of Belmont Avenue."
FULL STORY: CTA to get $1.1 billion federal grant to upgrade Red Line
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The Chicago Transit Authority's largest-ever construction project, also one of its most controversial projects, will begin construction soon.
Chicago Transit Increasing Rail Service to Pre-Pandemic Levels
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The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association