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Chicago Plan Commission Releases Central
Area Plan
The Chicago Department of Planning and Development has released
an updated version of the Central Area Plan.
The plan is a guide for continued economic success, physical
growth and environmental sustainability for the coming decades.
The city released a draft last July and held public hearings
to get community feedback. The planning department intends
to seek approval of the updated version of the plan from the
Chicago Plan Commission.
The plan can be viewed in its entirety at www.cityofchicago.org/PlanandDevelop/.
It is the first plan for downtown since 1958. Together with
Mayor Richard Daley's Zoning Reform effort, these two complementary
initiatives will provide the blueprints for Chicago's expansion
and growth well into the 21st Century.
"This plan is driven by a vision of Chicago as a global
city, the 'downtown of the Midwest,' the heart of Chicagoland,
and the 'greenest' city in the country," said DPD Commissioner
Alicia Berg. "This is no little plan. This is a plan
for urban greatness."
The Central Area Plan is the product of a broad group of Chicago
elected officials, government, business and civic leaders
who worked together to create it.
Key recommendations include:
Expanding the Loop's high-density office core into the West
Loop near the Chicago River, transit stations and Kennedy
Expressway.
Re-organizing higher density development outside the Loop
so that it is focused on major corridors where transit can
be provided and the centers of new urban neighborhoods formed.
Creating a new West Loop Transportation Center below Clinton
Street, including an exclusive busway, a CTA subway, commuter
and inter-city rail.
Completing the development of the Chicago River Corridor
throughout the Central Area with a continuous riverwalk and
riverside parks.
Regional Rail Plan Announced
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced a new plan to improve
railroad infrastructure in Chicago and throughout Northern
Illinois - a plan designed to preserve and strengthen the
region's role as the rail hub of the United States.
The plan calls for more than $1.5 billion in infrastructure
improvements throughout the region - including changing at-grade
rail crossings to grade-separated ones and modernizing tracks
and signaling equipment.
Among the projects outlined in the plan:
Replacing approximately 25 grade crossings in the city and
suburbs with overpasses or underpasses
Creating six rail-to-rail "flyovers," separating
passenger operations from freight operations
Improving deteriorated and unsightly railroad viaducts
Converting the St. Charles Air Line route, which passes
through Chicago's Near South Side, to public use
More than 1,200 trains pass through Chicago daily, carrying
three-quarters of the nation's rail freight. Chicago is the
only city where all six Class-One North American railroads
come together to interchange freight. More than 37,000 residents
of the Chicago area work for railroads and their suppliers
and subcontractors.
The plan calls for the region's six major freight railroads
to contribute more than $210 million toward the improvements.
Metra, city, state and federal entities would contribute the
rest. The allocation of those costs has yet to be determined.
Ruined Metra Bridge Rebuilt in Eight Days
Contractors worked nonstop for eight days to return train
service to normal on the Metra Electric District after a bridge
on the commuter line burned to the ground.
About 13,000 passengers between University Park and Riverdale
were without train service after the bridge in Riverdale was
destroyed.
"We want to acknowledge the efforts of our contractors,
who together with Metra's own workforce completed rebuilt
a new structure in only one week," said Metra Executive
Director Phil Pagano.
Northwest Tollway Redo To Run Through Autumn
A project to resurface the lanes and shoulders of the Northwest
Tollway from just west of Elgin to just south of Rockford
will last through November.
The existing 3-in. pavement overlay will be removed and replaced
with a 4-in. overlay of bituminous mix asphalt on the roadway
and shoulders.
Between Sleepy Hollow Road on the project's east end and Route
20 in Marengo, only night work will be allowed. There will
be no daytime lane closures on weekdays in this section to
minimize the impact on commuting.
West of Route 20, lane closures will be permitted around the
clock between 8 p.m. on Sunday and 8 a.m. on Friday. No weekend
closures will be done in this section after 8 p.m. on Sunday
to minimize the impact on weekend travel to and from Wisconsin.
Chicago Schools Approve $29M for Renovations
The Chicago Board of Education has approved the distribution
of more than $29 million for major renovations.
The Board also authorized:
The purchase of property at 4907, 4917,4919, 4933 and 4937
N. Sawyer Ave. for the construction of the Albany Park School
The purchase of property at 9847-51 and 9853-57 S. Escanaba
Ave. and 9830, 9838-40, 9844, 9846-48, 9852, 9854 and 9856
S. Exchange Ave. for the construction of an addition to Marsh
Elementary School
The purchase of property at 455 W. 123rd St. for an addition
to Metcalfe Elementary School
Engineering Honor For Hanson
Springfield-based Hanson Professional Services Inc. has received
the Exceptional Consulting and Engineering Service Award from
the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The honor comes from the design for the removal and replacement
of the Interstate 55 Lake Springfield bridges. The two spans
were replaced with a 720-ft.-long bridge, and the new bridge
accommodates six lanes of traffic.
In other news, the Batavia-based Fermi National Accelerator
Laboratory recently gave Hanson a high-performance rating
for its work on the future Fermilab Main Injector facility.
The facility will house equipment that will allow Fermilab
to increase the availability of antiprotons for collision
experiments.
SOM Traveling Fellow To Go to Japan
Kyle Reynolds was named the 2003 Interior Architecture Traveling
Fellow, an award sponsored by the Chicago-based Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill Foundation.
The $7,500 fellowship allows Reynolds, a recent graduate of
the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee School of Architecture
and Urban Planning, to complete his self-determined itinerary
to Japan. There, he will study how cultural variables and
limitations on available space influence interior architecture.
The SOM Foundation has given more than $1 million in education
grants to students, faculty and professional engineers.
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