Joining “Latino Voices” to discuss the proposed expansion are José Miguel Acosta Córdova, senior transportation policy analyst at the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization; Dany Robles, climate policy director at the Illinois Environmental Council; and Kate Lowe, associate professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois Chicago. (Produced by Eunice Alpasan).
Bills and resolutions have been flying fast and furious through the halls of the capitol in Springfield as the current legislative session comes to a close, including a pair of eleventh-hour proposals that have some drawing comparisons with Chicago’s much loathed parking meter deal.
House Bill 2878 and House Joint Resolution 23 (HJR23) both include provisions that would expand the scope of public-private infrastructure partnerships, in effect ceding a portion of control over planning and development to private entities, opponents said during a press conference Tuesday.
The infrastructure most immediately in question is I-55, specifically a plan to expand the highway by adding express toll lanes that would be managed by a private party.
Watch the full segment here.