Randy Blankenhorn: State needs ‘big picture’ planning

The state’s transportation chief on Wednesday (9/2/15) delivered a tough assessment of his agency’s ability to solve problems ranging from traffic congestion to the sluggish movement of freight across Illinois, saying, “I’m afraid that we’re planning for yesterday’s transportation system.”

Randy Blankenhorn, a veteran transportation expert who has been secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation for seven months, provided numerous examples during a speech in downtown Chicago about how IDOT has suffered from tunnel vision that obsessed over the condition of state roads and bridges but failed to focus on the big picture of moving people and goods more efficiently…Please click here to read Jon Hilkevitch’s story in the Tribune.