February 27, 2017

Duckworth Hosts Transportation Roundtable in Chicago

 

CHICAGO, IL - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) hosted a roundtable today with a number of elected officials, local leaders and officials representing local and regional transportation agencies around Chicagoland to discuss their efforts to expand public transit and support infrastructure projects. Duckworth also discussed the importance of projects like the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program, designed to increase the efficiency of the region's passenger and freight rail infrastructure, and the FASTLANE program, which supports critical freight and highway projects across the country. A photo of the meeting is available here.

"Improving Chicago's infrastructure is one of the most important things we can do for the local economy, and it's also important for our state and our nation as a whole," said Senator Duckworth. "Modernizing our transportation system will help Chicagoans who depend on our roads and transit systems to get to work every day as well as businesses that need our airports, highways and our freight network to ship their products. I'm going to continue to work hard in the Senate to improve our state's transportation infrastructure by advocating for projects to decrease congestion on our highways, expand bus lines across the state and ensure public transit systems are accessible to all Illinoisans."

As a member of two Senate committees with jurisdiction over our nation's transportation systems and infrastructure projects, Senator Duckworth highlighted her efforts to ensure Illinois receives adequate funding from the federal government to rebuild and modernize state infrastructure and transportation systems.

In attendance at today's roundtable were State Senator Martin Sandoval, State Representative Marcus C. Evans, Jr., State Representative John D'Amico, State Representative Michelle Mussman, METRA CEO & Executive Director Don Orseno, Regional Transportation Authority of Northeastern Illinois Executive Director Leanne Redden, Pace Chairman Richard Kwasneski, DuPage County Director of Transportation Chris Snyder, Will County Executive Larry Walsh, Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) Deputy Executive Director Tom Kotarac, Amtrak Director of Government Affairs Derrick James, IL Chamber of Commerce Executive Director of Infrastructure Council Benjamin Brockschmidt, Kane County Deputy Director of Transportation Tom Rickert, Chicago Federation of Labor Secretary-Treasurer Bob Reiter, IDOT Director of the Office of Planning and Programming Erin Aleman, Chicago Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities Commissioner Karen Tamley, Chicago Transit Authority Deputy Chief of Staff Michael McLaughlin and Cook County Department of Transportation and HighwaysChief Project Development Engineer Tara Orbon.

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