What is "Industrial Infrastructure"?

Industrial infrastructure includes the basic, nuts-and-bolts public works projects that make it possible and desirable for companies to do business and keep jobs in Chicago. Primarily, industrial infrastructure consists of two types of projects: (1) viaduct clearance improvements and (2) industrial street repair and construction.

Viaduct clearance improvements can be a life-or-death issue to businesses. Many of Chicago's viaducts are old and too low to allow modern trucks to pass underneath. If trucks for deliveries and shipments can't reach a manufacturer or a distributor, then that company may be forced to move. Similarly, crumbling or crowded industrial streets can make it difficult or dangerous for trucks to reach their destinations.

Of course, these are not the only types of projects that affect neighborhood manufacturers. Arterial street improvements, traffic and street lights, water and sewer systems, and even public transit infrastructure also affect a company's ability to do business in Chicago.

Why Should I Care About Industrial Infrastructure?

To keep family-sustaining jobs in the city, Chicago must compete with suburban areas to offer an efficient and cost-effective setting for manufacturers to continue in business and to grow.

The key to offering industrial companies what they need in terms of location is the condition of the City’s industrial infrastructure – the streets, viaducts, and other transportation links that serve our industrial corridors. 

Companies consider all of these questions when making location decisions:

• Are the streets in good condition to handle heavy industrial delivery loads? 
• Are viaducts high enough to allow trucks to come and go from company locations?  
• Are there good, safe, and reliable public transit facilities in the neighborhood to get workers to and from work? 
• Do traffic bottlenecks (congestion, outmoded bridges, etc.) interfere with manufacturers’ operations?

Chicago’s overall commitment to industrial infrastructure, as expressed in its 5-year Capital Improvement Programs, has increased since 1997:

...but the promises are increasingly less likely to be backed up with funding:


Source: City of Chicago Capital Improvement Program documents

"Funded" vs. "Unfunded"

Each year, when the City develops the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) -- its five-year road map for public works investments -- it takes into account how much money is available and where that money will come from. These sources include State and Federal dollars that will be available to the City, as well as money the City can raise through bonds and other sources such as property taxes, water bills, and other fees.

Since 1992, the City has issued a General Obligation Bond (GO bond) annually, backed by anticipated property tax revenues. In 2002, the City issued a $175 GO bond  and it plans to issue a $195 bond in 2003, but these are down from recent annual levels of $200 to $220 million, reflecting anticipated lowered property tax receipts.

In the CIP, the City projects its capital spending over a 5-year period and shows how much of each project is slated for funding in the first year of the plan. NCBG considers the 5-year figure for each capital project its allocation, while the first year projected spending is considered the amount of funding for the project, since this is the only actual funding information the CIP offers.

Why is this important? Because unfunded projects are more likely to be delayed -- sometimes for many years -- or dropped from the books altogether.

An unfunded project represents a lesser commitment by the City than a project to which it has pledged specific Federal, State or local dollars. Unfunded projects are usually planned for outlying years, rather than in the first year or two of a five-year spending plan. Whether or not an unfunded project will get full funding or any funding at all as the five-year plan proceeds is not reflected in the CIP.

For years, unfunded projects have plagued the City's industrial infrastructure program. With the 2003-2007 CIP, this trend, unfortunately, continues (see charts above).

The bottom line is, the City continues to make promises, but also persists in setting aside less real money each year to follow through on those promises.

Many Projects Still Wait

Many projects continue to wait for years to move forward. While they wait, much of the increase in industrial infrastructure allocations comes as a result of new projects added to the CIP in areas with high-profile new development taking place.

For example, two projects totaling $45 million in planned spending are aimed at the abandoned U.S. Steel site in South Chicago -- a highly publicized redevelopment project that has been promised dollars from the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and Illinois FIRST programs. In addition, two newly added projects near the Ford Motor Company factory expansion at 126th Street and Torrence Ave. are scheduled to receive allocations totaling $50.4 million.

Although State and Federal funds provide significant funding sources for industrial infrastructure, more than half of these projects are slated to be paid for with General Obligation bonds and other local sources, which are controlled directly by the City. For this reason, NCBG questions why projects, long in CIP plans, are held up. Below are examples of the many older projects that continue to wait for money and action: