IDOT listening tour stops at SSMMA

By Tom Vander Woude

On the afternoon of May 7, SSMMA hosted IDOT Secretary Randy Blankenhorn and representatives from the Illinois Capital Development Board to discuss state and regional transportation issues and the need for sustainable investment in infrastructure. Over 50 people representing business, government and others crowded into a conference room at the SSMMA offices in East Hazel Crest to participate in the IDOT Infrastructure Listening Tour.  Sec. Blankenhorn opened the meeting with a dialogue between himself and CSX Transportation’s (and Village President of La Grange) Tom Livingston, during which they discussed the role infrastructure plays in economic development and quality of life. The remainder of the afternoon was spent listening to and discussing comments from the attendees.  A key theme of the meeting was establishing a reliable and predictable funding program.

In anticipation of this event, SSMMA staff had compiled a list of local and regional infrastructure projects and funding needs from our member municipalities. These were presented as one document to Sec. Blankenhorn along with a summary of SSMMA’s major infrastructure priorities. IDOT has pledged to use these meetings to develop recommendations that will be presented to Governor Rauner and the General Assembly.  SSMMA will continue to work with IDOT, our legislative delegation and other state agencies to ensure that our priorities are reflected in any future capital bills. More information about the listening tour can be found here: http://www.idot.illinois.gov/about-idot/stay-connected/events/Infrastructure-Investment.