TFIC News Conference, March 20, 2007

DuPage County Board Chair Bob Schillerstrom, Lake County Board Chair Suzi Schmidt, Palos Hills Mayor Gerald Bennett, chair of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) and Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke, chair of the CMAP Transportation Committee, joined Chicagoland labor and business leaders on March 20, 2007, to warn of the dire consequences of continuing to defer needed investments in our state’s transportation infrastructure. They called on legislators and the Governor to make comprehensive funding for Illinois transportation a priority this year.

At a Thompson Center press conference convened by the Transportation for Illinois Coalition (TFIC), the officials said Chicagoland commuters, businesses, and the region’s economy cannot afford to wait another year as our transportation systems continue to deteriorate. They described bottlenecked freight lines in northeastern Illinois, underfunded and aging transit systems, and badly congested urban and suburban roads, all suffering from declining investment in recent years.  Read more in the related TFIC press release.