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Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

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The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) is an agency that integrates land use planning and transportation planning for the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will in northeastern Illinois. CMAP and its partners aim to remove barriers to cooperation across geographical boundaries and subject areas such as land use, transportation, natural resources, housing, and economic development.

CMAP's goal is to coordinate the efforts of the multitude of local governmental agencies and supply them with the best technical assistance and analysis to improve land use and transportation decision-making for the region. On October 13, 2010, CMAP's governing boards unanimously adopted GO TO 2040, the region's first comprehensive plan since Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago.[1]

History

In the summer of 2005, Public Act 094-0510 [2] called for the merger of the Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS) and the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC). CATS was the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Chicago region, responsible for regional transportation planning. NIPC was the comprehensive planning agency for the six county region. Kendall County was not part of the NIPC jurisdiction, but now falls under CMAP's jurisdiction.

File:CMAP structure.jpg
CMAP Committee Structure

Responsibilities

The State of Illinois legislation that created CMAP gave the agency the task of integrating the previously separate topics of land use and transportation into one agency that would protect natural resources, improve mobility, and minimize traffic congestion in the seven-county region. Under SAFETEA-LU legislation, CMAP is responsible for developing the region's official transportation plan, part of the broader GO TO 2040 comprehensive plan that integrates transportation with land use, housing, economic development, open space, the environment, and other quality-of-life issues. This transportation plan must be updated every four years, use visualization techniques, engage the general public, and include a separate Transportation Improvement Program document.[3]

Current Projects

The agency's primary objective is now to lead implementation of the GO TO 2040 comprehensive regional plan. On October 14, 2010, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Sustainable Communities Initiative announced a three-year, $4.25 million award to CMAP for technical assistance to communities seeking to implement GO TO 2040.[4] CMAP's work plan includes projects that span the divide between addressing neighborhood planning issues and creating wide reaching policy initiatives and legislation. One example of how CMAP assists small organizations is the Full Circle program, whereby community volunteers use hand-held wireless devices to record and transmit parcel-by-parcel data to a central server. Participants are able to view the changes they make immediately online and develop detailed maps of their neighborhood based on the data they collect. In addition, CMAP assists local governments with issues such as economic development, plan-making, data development and analysis, green initiatives, and more. Examples include help with address-canvassing required by the US Census Bureau and assistance with lake restoration and protection (see the Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program coordinated by the IL EPA). CMAP also facilitates public discussions (and occasionally takes public positions[5]) on important regional issues such as the proposed capital plan and EJ&E acquisition.

Notes

  1. ^ Baer, Geoffrey (2010). "WTTW "Chicago Tonight" segment on GO TO 2040". Retrieved 2010-10-19. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)[1]
  2. ^ Blei, Alex (2005). "New Regional Planning Board to Consolidate Existing Agencies, Coordinate Development, Transportation in Region". Campaign for Sensible Growth, Legislative Briefs. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  3. ^ US DOT, FHWA. Fact Sheets on Highway Provisions. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
  4. ^ Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (2010). "HUD awards agency $4.25 million to implement GO TO 2040 plan". Retrieved 2010-10-19. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)[2]
  5. ^ CMAP Executive Director Randy Blankenhorn's 2006 comments about IL's need for a new capital plan can be seen here
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