Happy Monday, Chicago. Hope you’re looking forward to Thanksgiving. Here are the stories you need to know as you prep your holiday meal plan.
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A southbound CTA Red Line train is pictured in a file photo. (WTTW News)
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With transit advocates hopeful the long-awaited Red Line Extension will kick off next year, the Chicago Transit Authority is racing to finalize the $1.9 billion in federal funding needed to complete the 5.6-mile project before the Biden administration leaves office.
While CTA officials expressed confidence they’ll secure that money, the high-profile Red Line project is far from the only hurdle local transit agencies could face in the coming years. The FTA, a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, provides billions in funding for capital projects used to build and repair transit infrastructure across the country. It also offsets operating costs for urban areas with populations of fewer than 200,000 people. Not everyone is a fan of their approach: namely the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, which calls for cutting FTA capital grants for transit expansion. Since the election, Trump has announced multiple appointments will be filled by Project 2025 contributors.
Another area that could be targeted: programs transit agencies use to ensure more women and people of color get job opportunities on major projects like the Red Line Extension or the Red-Purple Modernization. Those efforts typically fall under the federal Transportation Department’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program or Minority Business Enterprise programs through the state or city.
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The El Paseo Trail in Pilsen on Nov. 21, 2024. (WTTW News)
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The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) is taking steps toward transforming an abandoned railway into what’s known as El Paseo Trail in Pilsen, reigniting a years-old discussion about the fear of further displacement for the predominantly Mexican American neighborhood.
CDOT recently hosted a community engagement meeting to gather residents’ input on repurposing the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railway from West 16th and South Sangamon streets to West Cermak Road and South Laflin Street, near Benito Juarez High School. Officials emphasized that plans remain in early stages, with a final framework not expected until 2026.
The background: The trail, which was first introduced in 2016 under Mayor Rahm Emanuel but was stalled in 2022 due to resident concerns, is envisioned as a community resource for recreation and connectivity, but the project is facing skepticism from some residents and experts who fear it could accelerate gentrification. More than 10,000 residents have been pushed out of Pilsen in the past 15 years, according to DePaul University professor Winifred Curran, who studies the effect of gentrification on the urban landscape.
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Also From WTTW News:
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Why are severe pregnancy complications spiking across all age groups in Illinois? Eunice Alpasan looks into an alarming study from Northwestern University.
A conservative Catholic legal group is suing Illinois over a landmark state law enshrining a “fundamental right” to abortion care and requiring insurance companies to cover abortion and other reproductive health care.
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Back in the Day: November 25, 1987 - Mayor Harold Washington Dies
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A Chicago Tribune report from 1987 sets the scene of a crowd gathering in the Loop. “They stood silently in the biting wind, drawn to the Daley Center Plaza by communal need, waiting, praying and, in the end, weeping,” they write. “Women sank, sobbing, onto plaza benches. A man sat and buried his head in his hands.” On this day 37 years ago, Mayor Harold Washington suffered a heart attack at City Hall and died. He was 65. As a WTTW biography notes, “Washington, an African-American politician, built a coalition of blacks, Latinos, liberals, and the city’s disenfranchised to beat incumbent Mayor Jane Byrne and Richard M. Daley in the mayoral election of 1983.” While his time in office boasted great energy and hope for the city’s Black population, he faced severe opposition in City Council from remnants of the old Daley Machine. At the downtown congregation of mourners, the Tribune reported a woman crying, “He wasn`t finished.”
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Tell us about your Thanksgiving plans. Are you staying in Chicago? Going anywhere? What’s your
favorite local memory of the holiday?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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5:30 PM| 10:00 PM
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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