Council of Mayors wondering where 'mini-capital' money is going
Local transportation officials in Kane County are still trying to figure out exactly which projects will be funded by the "mini-capital" bill approved in April by state lawmakers.
The bill was passed with the idea of pumping about $2 billion into road and bridge maintenance and $1 billion into mass transit improvements.
However, Roger Valente of the Illinois Department of Transportation told the Kane/Kendall Council of Mayors Thursday he has not seen a list of local projects that will be funded by the bill. Valente said those decisions are all in the hands of state legislators.
Kane County Transportation Director Carl Schoedel said he'd heard some $66 million might be made available to the region of the state that includes Kane County. Valente said he could not confirm that, nor is he aware of a timetable when projects or amounts will be announced.
That information was just one of several updates about major transportation efforts in the Kane and Kendall counties area delivered to the Council of Mayors. Other noteworthy tidbits included:
• Both Metra and Pace citing the poor economy as the reason for decreased ridership so far this year.
• Metra reported a 2.2 percent overall reduction in ridership. That includes an 8.5 percent drop in riders on the Union Pacific West Line terminating in Elburn. The Elburn Metra station, however, is set to add 300 parking spaces to its commuter lot. The Aurora Transportation Center will also get 150 new commuter spaces, and new platforms are already under construction.
Metra and the Union Pacific are teaming for about $120 million worth of track upgrades that will eventually allow for better rerouting when trains get stuck on tracks during equipment failures. Stations will also soon receive new danger signs to indicate when another train is coming. The idea is to alert pedestrians who might begin crossing tracks after a train passes before seeing another oncoming train.
• Pace reported a 9 percent reduction in riders for the year so far. That includes an 18 percent reduction in riders this May compared to a year ago in the Ride in Kane program.