Friday, May 11, 2007
Daily Southtown
Letter to the Editor

Dear Gov. Blagojevich:
Illinois is at a crossroads. Our state's outstanding transportation networks, which have always attracted business to our region for their ability to move goods and people efficiently, are suffering from declining investment in recent years. The economy of our state is closely intertwined with our transportation infrastructure, but as our roads and rail systems become more congested and our transit systems slow from deferred maintenance, our entire economy and quality of life suffer.
Our region is growing, but we are not investing to keep pace with this growth. Investing in our transportation infrastructure is critical to ensuring northeast Illinois will continue to thrive. If we want to keep our communities vibrant places for residents to live and work and attractive places for businesses to locate and expand, then we must make this investment one of our top priorities.
Experts agree that failure to invest in transportation could lead to economic downturn and declining job growth, which would harm our communities and families for generations. We cannot afford to gamble with our future.
As the elected leaders of all seven counties in northeastern Illinois and the chair of the region's comprehensive planning agency, we urge you to take action this year to address transportation funding needs. We are all in complete agreement that this is one of the top priorities for Illinois.
We hope you will join us in making comprehensive transportation funding a priority for Illinois.
Gerald Bennett
Chairman, Chicago Metropolitan
Agency for Planning
Mayor, Palos Hills
Suzi Schmidt
Lake County Board Chair
Karen McConnaughay
Kane County Board Chairman
Kenneth D. Koehler
McHenry County Board Chair
Lawrence M. Walsh
Will County Executive
John Church
Kendall County Board Chair
Robert J. Schillerstrom
DuPage County Board Chairman
Todd Stroger
Cook County Board President