Steven Vance

In its upcoming update of the GO TO 2040 comprehensive regional plan, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning needs to take a closer look at the transportation projects it funds with federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grants. In the latest round of these grants, announced Tuesday, CMAP committees have approved funding for nine projects that only add more space for cars.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is moving forward with its portion of the 47-mile Illiana Tollway in rural Illinois and Indiana, issuing a "request for qualifications" to potential contractors. The document sheds light on how the state intends to finance the billion-dollar highway -- and how taxpayers will be on the hook.

Next year, Chicago will expand Divvy bike-share from 300 stations to 475 or possibly 550 stations, and Rogers Park residents are excited about the news that far north side neighborhoods will get at least 15 stations in 2014.

After Streetsblog reported on Leopardo Construction's poor pedestrian accommodations during construction on Lawrence Avenue next to the Ravenswood station, where the contractor is building a Mariano's grocery store, a company representative wrote to say that building a temporary walkway in the road wasn't feasible. Soon after, however, a temporary walkway was added.

With Finkl & Sons Steel vacating 22 acres along Cortland Street between Clybourn Avenue and the Chicago River, the U.S. Environental Protection Agency has given the economic development corporation North Branch Works $200,000 to create a plan that keeps the area industrial. As part of this process, it's important for walking, biking, and transit to be integrated into the plan.

By now you may have already seen this viral video of the world's most incompetent hit-and-run driver. After colliding with a taxi, the offending motorist performed something like an 11-point turn in an attempt to flee the scene, but traffic congestion on this part of Belmont Avenue, between Southport and Greenview, stalled the getaway. The driver struck four other vehicles in succession, bumper-car style, before speeding away. It's a wonder there was no further harm to bystanders or public property, though the driver apparently ran into a tree soon afterwards.

The Illinois Department of Transportation made its case for the Illiana tollway proposal by disseminating half truths and outright lies. At a Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning committee meeting in October where members voted 10-8 in favor of the 47-mile highway, supporters repeatedly referred to IDOT’s claim that the project would create 28,000 jobs. But that number was a lie: The project is in fact projected to create only 940 long-term jobs.

With two and a half years of service under his belt as the transportation commissioner -- not to mention 300 bike-share stations -- Gabe Klein announced that he will be resigning at the end of November.

The Chicago Department of Transportation is accepting public comments until 5 p.m. today on the draft update to "Rules and Regulations for Construction in the Public Way" [PDF]. Among other things, this document can help improve safety for biking and walking by creating better conditions during street construction projects.