The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) creates a transformational opportunity to strengthen northeastern Illinois’ transportation system, which has a far-reaching impact on the economic strength and resiliency of Illinois, the Midwest, and the nation. Investing in northeastern Illinois is an investment everywhere. Our region is the third largest U.S. metropolitan area strategically located at the center of the country and the global economy. It’s the nation’s hub for freight and goods movement, home to big business and industry with major highways, O’Hare and Midway International Airports, a world-class port on Lake Michigan, and more. This report reflects the highest-priority projects across the region. It is supported by the State of Illinois, the City of Chicago, the seven counties, RTA, CTA, Metra, Pace, and the CREATE program. Our region is speaking with one voice.

Transportation partners worked together to prioritize and achieve consensus around big, bold, sustainable solutions to our region’s transportation challenges. In fact, these projects align with the core principles that guide IIJA and our region — inclusive growth, resilience, and prioritized investment. For example, our proposed Mega projects to modernize I-290 Blue Line corridor and Chicago’s Union Station, along with Metra lines that serve commuters throughout our region, embody the goals of IIJA. As nationally significant projects with multi-jurisdictional support from nearly a dozen agencies, these multimodal projects will go a long way to connect and strengthen communities here and well beyond our borders. For these reasons and so much more.