As a follow-up to Kate Lowe’s op-ed on Nov. 10 regarding the CTA’s proposed Red Line extension (“Don’t delay on Red Line extension”): I was at the table during discussions regarding a similarly funded program, the CTA’s Red-Purple Line modernization, and I want to share some additional context and background.
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The Red-Purple Line transit tax increment financing was created due to a lack of funding from the state. To receive more than $1 billion in federal funding to support the first phase of the modernization project, the CTA and the city were required to provide a local funding match. In 2016, the General Assembly approved a new financial tool for this purpose known as transit tax increment financing. This new type of TIF was premised on a “value capture” concept for transit investments and provided the necessary funding to renovate the 100-plus-year-old CTA infrastructure, which is vital to the heartbeat of the city.
The Red Line extension will provide the same level of impact, dramatically improving travel times and access to opportunity. It will allow travelers between 130th Street and downtown to save up to 30 minutes each way and to connect to the extensive CTA rail network and reach additional neighborhoods and jobs. It will improve mobility in an area of the city with some of the longest commutes, and it will support economic development around these new stations, just as other major station investments across the city have.
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With the state’s gas tax holiday coming to an end in January, I implore our Illinois elected officials to contribute to funding this significant transportation and equity investment for the region. The impact of this project will be felt beyond the boundaries of Chicago. South suburban residents will also benefit from improved mobility and travel times, and the economic activity driven by this $3.6 billion investment will have regional and state-level impacts.
Thanks to the efforts of Gov. J. B. Pritzker, the state is now in the position to assist with funding, and I urge the legislature to take the next steps to allocate state dollars to support the Red Line extension.
This extension will support the state’s economic engine by creating jobs, expanding economic development and industry, contributing to state coffers, and bringing people back to Chicago and Illinois to live, work, raise families and invest.
— Thomas M. Tunney, alderman, 44th Ward, Chicago
Mass transit is a lifeline
Back in the 1960s, we would take the Fullerton Avenue bus east to Kedzie Avenue and walk two blocks to the train station at Logan Square. It got us downtown. Next thing you know, the train goes to O’Hare. Watch all those cars on Kennedy Avenue as you sail by.
Public transportation is a lifeline for many. If you build it, they will come. Extend the Red Line now.
— George Howell, Chicago
True costs of fossil fuels
Thanks for the article in the Monday Tribune on the COP27 United Nations Climate Change Conference (“UN climate conference kicks off amid world’s many crises”). I was surprised in the lead-up to the midterm elections that there was minimal coverage on TV news of the climate crisis. In fact, climate was not even among the top five issues of concern to voters this election season.
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It is hard to argue with the importance of other issues, namely the economy. But to put it in perspective: I have lived through the Great Recession and stagflation in my lifetime, and our current inflation seems mild compared to those crises. It is worth noting that we still have less than 4% unemployment, despite the “scourge” of inflation.
Climate change is a crisis that affects many in this country and the world. The effects could become catastrophic if the issue is not addressed immediately. Yet very little is heard on the campaign trail or in the news now about the issue.
I sincerely hope that the newly elected Congress in Washington will take up the challenge. The Inflation Reduction Act contains hundreds of billions of dollars in spending approved for climate action, but Congress will have much to say about how and when it is spent. I hope the legislature will act responsibly in spending this money and consider longer-lasting bipartisan efforts that might include a carbon tax. Such a tax has been implemented successfully in Canada, among other nations.
The United States is a laggard regarding recognizing the true costs of fossil fuels and their resulting greenhouse gas emissions. We should be a leader.
— Richard Swanson, Brookfield
Hullabaloo over costume
I have had a home in the South Loop since 1986 — twice the average lifetime of anyone likely to be a student at Jones College Prep — and I am a strong supporter of literacy who watched the former Jones Commercial High School transform into Jones College Prep. I am appalled at the apparent ignorance of current students, administrators and members of the media who seem to support the firing of Jones College Prep Principal Joseph Powers over a student’s Halloween costume.
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The Halloween costume was not that of a German member of the Nazi Party but that of a member of the anti-Nazi, albeit pro-communist, East German Army.
One may well argue that military uniforms of any sort should not be worn as Halloween costumes — on the grounds, perhaps, that they make light of the service of military veterans. But the current hullabaloo reflects the apparent ignorance of high school students as a result of the failure of American public high schools teaching world history instead of whatever nonsense currently infests the heads of teachers unions.
Powers deserves immediate reinstatement and a public apology, the protesting students should be sent to remedial history courses and the media reporting on this story should reflect on their apparent inability to research the stories they report.
— David Applegate, Huntley
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