Civic group wants to get rid of township road departments

Township highway districts should hit the road, leaders with the civic group Metropolis Strategies said Wednesday.

The recommendation came as the organization outlined its priorities for 2012. With 2,859 units of government responsible for transportation in Illinois, township highway departments are an obsolete luxury that the state can’t afford, officials said.

“Townships road districts should be eliminated,” Metropolis Strategies Vice President Jim LaBelle said.

Metropolis intends to push for legislation that dumps inefficient township road departments in favor of more cost-effective ways of maintaining infrastructure.

If that happened, Schaumburg Township Highway Commissioner Robert Fecarotta argues that tax money for roads in his jurisdiction would be rolled into the larger Cook County budget, resulting in less service for local residents.

“Can we do without a highway commissioner? Yes,” Fecarotta said. “But my fear is ... this would only backfire because Cook County will divert the funds elsewhere.”

Other Metropolis initiatives include: developing a regional economic plan to counter lackluster job and business growth, pushing the state to come up with a plan to handle freight congestion, doubling riders on mass transit, assessing alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenders and addressing climate change.

Metropolis President George Ranney said the Regional Transportation Authority needs to take more of a leadership role in finding capital dollars for Metra, Pace and the CTA and in integrating the three transit systems.

Ranney called the RTA a “disgrace.” While noting that the agency was staffed with “well-meaning people,” he questioned its efficacy and said it needs to be more proactive.

RTA officials said they want to talk to Metropolis Strategies before commenting.

Metropolis Strategies focuses on regional planning and economic growth for Chicago and the suburbs. It was created and is supported by the Commercial Club of Chicago, a civic group comprised of businesses and corporations.