|
Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Melissa Bean (IL-08) announced that the House will vote on legislation that includes funding she requested in H.R. 3074, the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Fiscal Year 2008 Appropriations Act. The bill includes funding Bean requested for the following projects.
Illinois Route 120 Corridor: $500,000 for phase one engineering of a section of the Illinois Route 120 corridor between U.S. Route 12 and Illinois Route 131. Creating the Illinois Route 120 Corridor will be a coordinated effort including several local municipalities, Lake County, and the state of Illinois in order to reduce congestion and increase traffic flow in this rapidly growing area.
Miller Road Widening: $250,000 to help widen Miller Road from Illinois Route 31 to River Road. This funding will compliment the $6,364,000 that was received in SAFETEA-LU for improvements to Miller Road. Widening Miller to four lanes will help ease traffic congestion on this heavily traveled north-south thoroughfare.
Meacham Road Tollway Access Ramps: $250,000 for phase one engineering of a west-bound off ramp at Meacham Road from U.S. Interstate 90 to help reduce congestion in this busy office, retail, tourist and residential area.
Butterfield Rd., IL Rt. 60/ Canadian National Railroad Grade Separation: $250,000 to implement phase one of a project to add grade separations of the Canadian National Railroad at Route 60 and Butterfield Road at IL Route 60. Turn lane traffic at this intersection is very heavy during peak periods—especially when trains are using the rail crossing only 500 feet past the intersection. Grade separations will reduce delays on this critical east-west arterial highway, which has been designated part of the Strategic Regional Arterial highway system in northeastern Illinois.
Grand Avenue Transit Signal Priority: $320,000 for a transit signal priority (TSP) corridor on Grand Avenue from Hunt Club Road in Gurnee to Green Bay Road in Waukegan, which will improve bus service and reduce congestion. In addition, the connectivity of transit signal priority technology across multiple jurisdictions will allow first responders to cross municipal boundaries without delay in the event of an emergency. This project is part of a 480-mile network of TSP routes throughout northeastern Illinois.
Metra Development of Suburban Transit Access Route Line: $5 million requested with other Members of the Illinois Delegation for preliminary engineering and environmental assessment work for the Metra Suburban Transit Access Route Line (STAR) Line. This suburb to suburb commuter rail line, which was authorized under SAFETEA-LU, would link more than 100 Chicagoland communities and is vital to alleviating traffic congestion, providing new commuting opportunities, and linking communities and places of business, which promotes additional economic development.
Metra Expansion and Upgrade of Union Pacific Northwest Line: $5 million requested in conjunction with other Members of the Illinois Delegation for preliminary engineering of upgrades to the Metra Union Pacific NorthWest Line (Metra’s second busiest line), including a new station, an extension of track, new facilities, and enhanced overall service.
###
|
