Connecting Communities
West Cook County Caucus
November 19, 2003
A Chicagoland Transportation and Air Quality Commission project in partnership with:
Oak Park Greens and League of Women Voters: River Forest
Connecting Communities caucuses are a public involvement
follow-up to the Connecting Communities summits that
involved over 500 people from throughout northeastern Illinois.
The caucuses are designed to take a "snapshot" of a
community's views on progress toward their summit
recommendations. Some recommendations were major
projects that could only be accomplished over a long time
period. Others were practical, short term, and inexpensive
solutions to community mobility deficits.
Excerpt from West Cook summit report:
"Chicago residents migrated to the communities of West Cook
County after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. The Elevated
train was extended to Oak Park in 1895. The Prairie Path
was once a successful commuter rail line traversing Chicago,
Aurora, and Elgin, though the route closed when Interstate
290 opened. Today the area pulses with major industrial job
centers located near Schiller Park and Franklin Park, as well
as O'Hare International Airport, the Rosemont Convention
Center and the Allstate Arena. Cicero is the tenth largest city
in Illinois and the seventh fastest growing. Western Cook
County is economically and racially diverse.Almost all of us
live near a bus stop and over 80% of us live near a train
station. We are united in our desire to have more choices in
the way we travel within and beyond our communities. We
realize this will require a dramatic shift from the current
"auto-centric" culture. We are firm in our belief that
"automobile mono-culture," a term one of us used to describe
current priorities, will only get worse unless we take forceful
steps to reverse the trend."
West suburban Cook County is confronting several
land use and transportation challenges. Many of
these concerns were first raised during a 2002
Connecting Communities summit, where
participants had the opportunity to recommend
alternatives and solutions to meet these
challenges. Major themes at the summit included
strong support for walking and cycling options,
better coordination of transit, and attention by
planners to the public's input. Members of this
original group reconvened as a caucus to discuss
the implementation and progress of their
Connecting Communities summit
recommendations.
Significantly Increase Rail Transit
Interconnectivity
In the year-and-a-half since the summit, regional
and state planners have committed to review a
full set of alternatives for east-west travel,
including potential rail as well as potential
expressway options along the I-290 corridor.
Participants noted that there was a great deal of
skepticism about what will happen in this corridor.
Several participants felt that there was a good
faith effort to look at alternatives to widening I-
290, while other participants were unsure that
alternatives would be given serious consideration.
There was clear consensus at the caucus that
the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)
needs to be more open with the public regarding
plans for I-290. The group expressed that planners
and elected officials will coordinate different plans
and seek out local community input and support,
particularly on suggestions like a "cap" over the
highway in Oak Park.
Improve Access and Coordination of Transit
Caucus participants were pleased with the signs
of a "renewed commitment" in some
communities to public transit, represented by
new clean fuel buses, the addition of bike racks
on buses, and better signage near transit stops.
Participants were hopeful that communities in west
suburban Cook County would continue these efforts and
add more bike lockers, indoor parking and other bike-
friendly amenities for transit riders. People also expressed
an interest in seeing electronic "countdowns" at transit
stations to let passengers know how much time until a
train arrives.
On a regional scale, the development of a long-range
plan, such as the Chicago Region Environmental and
Transportation Efficiency Project (CREATE), was seen
as a commitment to improved passenger and freight
rail service, that would benefit of providing economic,
