Mayor Lightfoot Launches Chicago Works
Infrastructure Plan
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Earlier this week, CDOT joined with Mayor Lightfoot to kick-off Chicago Works, the City's five-year multi-billion-dollar capital plan. The plan relies on data to select and prioritize investments, addressing decades-long backlog of infrastructure needs. The plan emphasizes equity and safety, and will create jobs and spur the City’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
This means that we'll be hard at work improving infrastructure all over the city. We've already begun planting trees and repaving streets. The funding will also allow us to break ground on bridge repairs, launch streetscape projects in nine INVEST South/West neighborhoods, and repair sidewalks and to make it easier and safer for people to walk and take transit throughout the city.
You can see what we've been up to below and stay tuned for much more to come!
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Yesterday CDOT took part in announcing the launch of Open Chicago, the latest initiative to safely reopen the city. Open Chicago allows for the reopening of public amenities and private venues, and activating public spaces with arts, culture, and recreation, among other things. CDOT is excited to reprise Shared Streets, a popular program launched last year to provide communities with more space to walk and bike on partially closed neighborhood streets.
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CDOT and 45th Ward Alderman James Gardiner cut the ribbon on a new green alley near the Six Corners intersection in the Portage Park neighborhood. CDOT’s Green Alley Program is a sustainable infrastructure initiative that is designed to reduce stormwater runoff and standing water, as well as the urban heat island effect. This green alley also provides an attractive new pedestrian connection between Milwaukee Avenue and Cicero Avenue.
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CDOT and the City of Chicago passed a major milestone for the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) with the completion of the federal review process, setting the stage for construction to start later this year on over $200 million in parks and transportation work in Jackson Park. Through an extensive community process, CDOT has designed a series of transportation improvements that will increase green space, improve connectivity and safety for pedestrians and bike riders, and accommodate future traffic demand.
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CDOT is hiring! Several jobs were posted this month, including positions as engineers, a clerk, and a contract coordinator. Some of these positions close as soon as next week. Visit the Chicago CAREERS website and search "Department of Transportation" in the drop down menu under "Organization".
Divvy is also hiring! Divvy, Chicago's bikeshare system, has open positions that include repairing and rebalancing bikes, maintaining stations and docking points, swapping batteries on e-bikes, and more. More information at bit.ly/divvyjobs.
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Earlier today, CDOT joined with the Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) to celebrate Arbor Day. Thanks to funding from Chicago Works, CDOT will be planting 2,000 trees this year, 1,000 more trees than we planted in 2020. Together with DSS, there will be over 7,500 trees planted in neighborhoods across Chicago this year.
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CDOT has announced plans for two new Vision Zero Chicago community engagement efforts to reduce traffic deaths and injuries in high-crash areas this spring: one on the South Side including Englewood, West Englewood, Grand Boulevard, and Washington Park; and one on the West and Northwest Sides in Belmont-Cragin, Humboldt Park, and West Town. Both projects will kick-off this spring, with public meetings anticipated over the summer.
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CDOT was awarded with two of the eleven honor awards given by the American Council of Engineering Companies Illinois Chapter. Riverview Bridge was awarded the judge's choice for structural systems and Navy Pier Flyover won the Lincoln's Grand Conceptor, the highest award given by the organization.
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