(The following story by Guy Tridgell was published in the January 17 issue of the Daily Southtown.)
CHICAGO — A series of projects to help the flow of freight in and out of the Chicago area will be pushed as the top regional contribution to a massive federal transportation bill later this year.
The projects — a mixture that includes road overpasses, additional tracks and improved crossing signals — could top $1 billion. A definitive list will be released by major railroad companies in the next couple of months.
If the plan for Chicago works, it could become the blueprint for other cities grappling with the same freight issues.
“The rest of the country is waiting for Chicago to get its act together,” Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce president Gerald Roper said. “This is great leverage for us in Washington, D.C.”
The comments came during a Wednesday meeting of regional business and planning interests in Chicago. Their goal is to find relief for the growing problem of freight congestion in the upcoming federal transportation bill, nicknamed TEA-3. The bill covers about six years in transportation spending.
MarySue Barrett, president of the Metropolitan Planning Council, said the Chicago area deserves special attention because it is the Midwest transportation hub.
Streamlining freight operations would improve other modes of transportation because cargo would shift from trucks to railroad cars and commuter rail would run more efficiently, she said. The problem of trains blocking railroad crossings — particularly in the south suburbs and South Side — also would get better.
“If there are limited new resources for freight, then Chicago has to be at the top of the list,” Barrett said.
States and cities in the coming months will be lobbying Congress for their cut of TEA-3. The current bill, TEA-21, will have generated $217 billion for publicworks projects when it expires Sept. 3
Illinois did not fare in the previous version of the megabill, retrieving 98 cents for every dollar residents paid in fuel taxes.
It will be an uphill battle to get more federal dollars sent to Illinois.
Federal budget problems figure to limit the size of the bill.
Also, a requirement in the previous bill made states foot 20 percent of some projects. With Illinois FIRST set to expire next year, the primary source for state contributions will be gone.