McCain, Obama spokesmen lay out regional transportation plans

Presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama dropped into Chicago Monday to give a taste of what their transportation and urban renewal agendas would be.

Well, actually, it was their surrogates Republican state Rep. Jim Durkin and former cabinet Secretary Henry Cisneros, a Democrat, who outlined significantly different plans for rescuing the country's fragile infrastructure at a Metropolitan Planning Council event.

Cisneros said Obama would create a White House Office on Urban Policy that coordinates transportation, housing, labor issues and commerce in metropolitan regions. Obama would promote the creation of research parks and reverse cuts to health care, education and affordable housing that Cisneros faulted the Bush administration for.

"This needs to be coordinated from the top down," said Cisneros, Housing and Urban Development secretary under the Clinton administration.

Durkin pledged McCain would reduce regulations on small business to allow them to flourish and create new positions plus stop the migration of jobs overseas by addressing high taxes on corporations.

"Cities are the economic engines of the nation," said Durkin, who lives in Western Springs and is co-chair of McCain's Illinois campaign. "The challenge we face is how to increase their global competitiveness."

Both men talked about the need for public-private partnerships to fix roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

Tackling transportation is essential in Chicago, Durkin said, explaining "traffic congestion places a stranglehold on the economy and deteriorates our air quality."

Durkin said the privatization of roadways is becoming common overseas, and he cited the leasing of the Chicago Skyway as an idea for raising cash for improvements. But he disagreed with the notion of congestion pricing, or raising tolls during rush hour, a concept that's been floated for I-90.

Cisneros touted Obama's pledge to direct $25 billion to a Jobs and Growth Fund that would rescue the highway trust fund, which officials announced last week was going broke. The cash influx would help with bridge and road maintenance as well as school repairs.

Obama would also create a national infrastructure reinvestment bank aimed at further construction projects to create jobs and spur economic growth, Cisneros said.