Anyone who has sat nervously in traffic under a crumbling highway viaduct, waited in gridlock traffic on the Eisenhower or waited for a CTA bus that never showed up understands how much of a problem infrastructure is in Chicago.

City policymakers and their private partners want to solve all of the above. Starting this year, Illinois will receive nearly $18 billion in federal infrastructure funds, on top of the $45 billion the state already committed to repair roads, bridges, rails and more—a collective windfall for infrastructure that this area has not witnessed at any other point in its history.

"It's massive," says Gia Biagi, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation. "Everybody recognizes this is a moment. It is a singular chance to shift fortunes and to scale everything up."