Two years ago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot famously warned African-American alderpersons who dared to vote against her 2021 budget, “Don’t ask me for s--- for the next three years” when choosing projects for her multi-year capital plan.
On Tuesday, that mayoral threat was a distant memory at a feel-good press conference outlining $1.8 billion in capital projects over the next two years.
The list of projects included in the “updated, $4.5 billion capital plan” — increased from the original $3.7 billion — is not much different than Phase One of the program Lightfoot calls “Chicago Works.”
The latest $1.8 billion in projects will be bankrolled by general obligation bonds “repaid from the corporate fund.”
With help from bond proceeds and state and federal infrastructure funds, highlights include:
• $216 million for the aldermanic menu program, the treasured fixture that earmarks $1.5 million for each of the 50 wards for projects each alderperson chooses.
• $114.2 million to replace 20 aging bridges; $47 million for “strategic bridge repairs”; $8.3 million to rehabilitate seven underpasses a year for two years; $12 million to reconstruct two more viaducts.
• $251.7 million to resurface residential and arterial streets chosen by their “pavement condition index” and need for ADA ramps; reconstruct WPA streets; and create 100 new “green” alleys.
• $79.3 million for “complete replacement of 200 blocks of residential street lighting — two blocks per ward — and 100 blocks of lighting along arterial streets.
• $88.1 million to modernize Chicago’s “historically under-funded traffic signal system,” including 60 “full intersection replacements,” signal modification at “critical intersections,” and traffic signal “interconnectedness” to speed bus service and “battery back-ups.”
• $64.1 million for sidewalk repairs.
• $58 million to create new bike lanes, improve “priority bus routes” and bankroll pedestrian safety projects.
• $166 million for 17 streetscape projects, some in corridors included in the mayor’s Invest South/West program.
• $197.7 million for “core facility renovations and upgrades,” including public libraries, city health clinics, and centers operated by the Department of Family and Support Services.
• $153.5 million to purchase 280 light- and medium-duty electric vehicles.
• $107.8 million to modernize Chicago’s aging technology infrastructure.
• $60 million for lead service line replacement.
• $40 million for, what the city calls “catalytic grants” to spur “economic growth” along “disinvested commercial corridors in Chicago’s South and West Sides.
• $14 million for public safety cameras.
• $2.2 million for “bunker gear” for Chicago firefighters.
Flanked by the leaders of trade unions whose members stand to benefit from the influx of construction jobs, Lightfoot announced the new projects at Wacker and Dearborn along the Chicago Riverwalk.
The location was chosen to highlight Tuesday’s release of a request for proposals for concessionaires at five Riverwalk locations. City Hall is seeking businesses that run the gamut from “sporting and recreational boating” to food, beverage, retail and “entertainment venues showcasing local talent.”
For years, Mayor Richard M. Daley talked about the Riverwalk. His successor, Rahm Emanuel, finally delivered it. On Tuesday, Emanuel’s successor called it “an economic engine for our entire city.”
It is “part of the lifeblood of Chicago’s iconic, I’ll say, spring and summers and, if you’re brave, the fall as well,” Lightfoot added, noting the variety of proposals being sought.
“Not only will this effort ensure that the foot traffic remains high on the riverwalk throughout the fall. It can also build on the economic success of the Chicago concessions program. Currently, revenues from this season are predicted to either meet or exceed the $23 million that the program secured in 2021, which was the highest level of total revenues to date.”
Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi was naturally most excited about programs tied to “Vision Zero,” the multi-year plan to reduce and even eliminate the number of pedestrians mowed down on Chicago streets.
“That’s pedestrian refuge islands. That’s a place you can stop in the middle of the street and be safe and wait for traffic to pass,” she said.
“Those bump-outs. ... That piece of a sidewalk that gives you a little more room to wait to pass. It shortens the distance of that crosswalk, so it’s easier to get across. We’re doing projects like that all over the city. We’re flipping our bike lanes into concrete. We’re creating networks for communities to get around their neighborhoods safely.”
