Improve Route 30? Metro Planning Agency to Study How

What do you want to see when you drive down Route 30 in New Lenox? Heck, maybe you don't even want to drive; perhaps you want a bike path, improvements to the Metra lot or more of a downtown atmosphere.

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, which is responible for producing a regional plan for land use and transportation, is tackling those issues with the village and many other area communities as part of its Local Technical Assistance Program.

The program provides municipalities with staff resources and grants to assist with local planning projects that help implement a comprehensive plan for Chicagoland. CMAP issued a call for projects in early 2011, and in March partnered with 62 local governments, nonprofits and intergovernmental organizations. You can get a rundown of the projects by clicking on the PDF attached to the right of this article.

To explain the issues and projects CMAP is devling into, the agency has launched a video series. You can view the latest video, an overview of the Local Assistance Program, by clicking on the image to the right of this article or by watching it on YouTube.

In New Lenox, CMAP will begin working with the village this fall to study the Route 30 corridor and will release a report with its findings.