CREATE’s Forest Hill Flyover competing for America’s top transportation project

SPRINGFIELD -The Illinois Department of Transportation today announced that Chicago's Forest Hill Flyover is in the running for the top prize in the America's Transportation Awards, the highest honor for state departments of transportation. The project was recognized for improving safety, mobility and quality of life at what was one of the worst rail bottlenecks in the country. ​

"We're proud to be recognized along with our many partners for this project, which has positively impacted both the local community and the movement of goods and people throughout the country," said Illinois Transportation Secretary Gia Biagi. "Now we're asking the public to help bring this award home to Illinois." ​

The project is in competition for both the national Grand Prize and the People's Choice Award. Each come with $10,000 in prize money for a charity or transportation-related scholarship fund chosen by the winning states. While an independent panel of transportation industry experts will select the Grand Prize winner, the general public will decide the People's Choice Award through an online vote.

Through Nov. 15, you can cast one vote a day for the People's Choice Award online at www.americastransportationawards.org. The winning projects will be announced Nov. 17 in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Forest Hill Flyover is a Top 12 finalist in the contest, which is hosted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The improvement added an elevated rail corridor and additional tracks on Chicago's South Side, separating trains from vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. The flyover has decreased noise, reduced emissions and improved reliability for first responders, while keeping an estimated $652 billion worth of goods moving through Chicago by rail each year and improving the safety of passenger and commuter rail. ​

The flyover is the latest success story for CREATE, a unique public-private partnership between railroads and state and local governments working together to improve the way passengers and goods move over rail while enhancing safety. As a leading CREATE partner, IDOT plays a pivotal role in shaping planning and programming strategies for these efforts.

The recognition is the seventh time in the last nine contests that an Illinois project has been named a finalist, winning in 2018 for the Lake Shore Drive-Interstate 55 interchange in Chicago and again in 2019 for the joint effort with Missouri to improve mobility and access in the Metro East.

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