Erin Guthrie, Director
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
500 E Monroe Street
Springfield, IL 62701
Dear Director Guthrie:
This letter is written on behalf of the Chamber630 Board of Directors and its 700 business Members. This letter is in support of DuPage County’s application for DCEO’s Public Infrastructure grant program for their 31st Street Corridor Improvement Project.
This project involves multiple components that will help address both the area’s economic vitality and the movement of traffic. By improving 31st Street, from Meyers Road to York Road, businesses as well as Midwestern University, can improve travel reliability for the movement of goods, customers and employees. Additionally, this project will address deficiencies at the intersections of 31st Street and IL Route 83 and at Jorie Boulevard.
We believe this project to be a critical driver of economic development in the area, as there is a large volume of morning and evening traffic which goes between IL Route 83 and the business campus northeast of Jorie Boulevard. Traffic modeling conducted throughout the project’s completed preliminary engineering report shows that the AM and PM peak periods operate at Level of Service F, the lowest level. This indicates poor travel times categorized by stop-and-go traffic and increased accident rates.
This project addresses many aspects of the Governor’s Five-Year Economic Development Plan by improving transportation infrastructure that will provide a strong foundation for long-term economic growth and job creation. The project also serves the transportation needs of this regional economic hub. The improvements proposed in this application will serve commercial and retail centers, healthcare providers, corporate headquarters, a hotel and an educational campus. Within two miles of 31st Street there is approximately 21 million square feet of commercial space existing and 30 new developments proposed or under construction that employ over 40,000 individuals.
Chamber630 strongly supports this project and believes these improvements will help create a stronger economic corridor that attracts new businesses and further development in DuPage County.
Sincerely,
Laura Crawford
President & CEO
