- This event has passed.
I-90 Expansion Project
April 18, 2014 @ 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm CDT
Free
Real Time Chicago Spring 2014 Lecture Series:
“I-90 Expansion Project”
Rocco Zucchero, Deputy Chief of Engineering for Planning for the Illinois Tollway
Friday, April 8
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Great Cities Institute
412 South Peoria Street
Suite 400, CUPPA Hall
The Jane Addams Memorial Expressway is part of Interstate 90 (I-90), which is the nation’s longest interstate highway. Built in the 1950’s, the expressway has reached a critical need for infrastructure expansion and modernization to respond to the continually growing and vibrant commercial and residential activities in the corridor. As a part of the state’s $12 billion capital program Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future, the state will invest $2.2 billion into I-90, to include the rebuilding and widening of lanes of the Jane Addams between Elgin and the Kennedy Expressway. In addition to improving commuter transportation times and traffic flow, the project is projected to create or sustain thousands of jobs and contribute to the regional economy through enhanced commercial transport, essential to the Chicago economy. Rocco Zucchero, Head of Planning for the Illinois State Tollway Authority, visits with GCI to provide an overview of the project planning and implementation of this major capital improvement project with regional implications. Steve Schlickman, executive director of UIC Urban Transportation Center will respond to Zucchero’s presentation with analysis based in his decades of experience in the Chicago transportation field.
Rocco Zucchero is the Deputy Chief of Engineering for Planning for the Illinois Tollway. He has worked with the Tollway since July 2000. Presently he oversees the planning department that was responsible for the development of the Tollway’s 15-year, $12-billion Move Illinois capital program. He is also responsible for the advancement of strategic planning and policy acquisition of land for capital projects, and coordination with elected officials, community groups, government agencies, and planning organizations on construction, land use policy and economic development issues. The planning department also oversees environmental policy development and permitting processes, as well as assists with traffic and revenue forecasting. Mr. Zucchero was integral in successfully delivering major capital improvement projects including the Interstate 355 South Extension and Open Road Tolling. More recently he is focused on the implementation of the 62-mile Interstate 90 Corridor reconstruct and widening project, the Elgin O’Hare Western Access project and several new interchange projects across northern Illinois. Zucchero received a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
CUPPA Respondent:
Steve Schlickman is the executive director of the Urban Transportation Center (UTC) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He also is a member of the UIC adjunct faculty, teaching graduate courses in the funding and finance of transportation projects through the Department of Urban Planning and Policy. His specialties include public infrastructure policy, finance, and advocacy.
To request disability accommodations, please contact Christiana Kinder, Great Cities Institute, (312) 996-8700, christia@uic.edu
