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Pritzker will travel to Kankakee County to clean up IDOT’s mess
Thursday, Apr 11, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller * I posted a story Monday about how CSL Behring had been trying without success to get IDOT’s approval to convert a three-way stop light in Bradley to a four-way light for 16 months. The pharmaceutical company is investing $1 billion into a plant expansion, perhaps doubling its 1,600 jobs in a part of the state that is in desperate need of economic expansion. And it’s not seeking any sort of tax breaks or government financing. Sen. Toi Hutchinson said later in the day that IDOT had agreed to put the stoplight (which CSL offered to pay for) on its expedited project list. But a Kankakee Daily Journal reporter also posted this on Twitter…
#FacePalm. CSL says the IDOT permit number is L-16410. * Anyway, several commenters suggested Monday that Gov. Pritzker ought to high-tail it over to Bradley to make amends and straighten this mess out. That’s happening…
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- very old soil - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 12:25 pm:
Rich
Shouldn’t first line say “trying without success”
- Perrid - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 12:32 pm:
Adding to very old soil, “a Kankakee Daily Journal reported also ” should be reporter. Not that I nitpick or anything.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 12:37 pm:
Someone has to light a fire under the IDOT staff responsible for this. Sometimes you gotta be the bad guy and twist the bureaucracy to make sure something like this gets done quickly.
- PublicServant - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 12:53 pm:
Tell him to bring the Stoplight with him.
- Huh? - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 12:55 pm:
3D- fire was lit on Monday. I know the people involved and they are not mindless bureaucrats.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 1:02 pm:
Please take a stoplight or two from Springfield- we have ectra
- Six Degrees of Separation - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 1:04 pm:
Another Kankakee County example. I remember after the Amtrak crash in Bourbonnais and another near-miss, Gov. Ryan ordered Route 50 to be relocated and additional crossing measures installed, and it went from being the gov’s order to being under construction in a little more than a year, which is probably a record for a project of that magnitude. Historically, when governors get involved in an IDOT matter, things tend to happen quickly.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 1:10 pm:
== fire was lit on Monday ==
OK, but the spokesperson does not even know if the permit was filed. Not a good look.
- Red Ketcher - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 1:17 pm:
While there JB could go up Armour Rd. to Jaenicke’s Root Beer Stand for a Hot Dog or Brickstone Restaurant Brewery or head out 102 to the BB Sportsmen’s Club or maybe go out east to the Aroma Park Legion or west to Blue’s Cafe but for sure Our Governor ought to stop by the Tiny Tap , where The Legend Continues.
- Da Big Bad Wolf - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 1:17 pm:
IDOT permit number is L-16410 was found in the bottom of a desk drawer under a broken pair of sunglasses, two loose q tips and a Justin Bieber CD, Never Say Never.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 1:27 pm:
I have applied for a number of IDOT permits over the years, and every one of them took 6+ months and multiple reminders, sometimes stretching over a year. Often, the permit applications had to be sent more than once because they were “lost”. This is typical.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 1:29 pm:
===Jaenicke’s Root Beer===
Best root beer in the world. My parents used to buy it by the gallon jug.
===Blue’s Cafe===
One of my late grandma’s favorite spots, but they’re pretty strong Republicans so I’m not sure how they’d feel about a JB visit.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 1:32 pm:
===and they are not mindless bureaucrats===
I’m sure they’re fine people, but they need to stop acting like mindless bureaucrats if they don’t want to be referred to as such.
- Anon - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 1:35 pm:
Again they are 4 month months in to this admin and still have Raurnettes running the show out there. What did you expect?
- Long Time R - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 1:59 pm:
-Anon-1:35 pm wrong they have a new Secretary and COS for the last 6 weeks. This is a Raunerite problem it’s a IDOT problem
- Anon - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 2:02 pm:
Long Time 1:59
Correct they have a new Sec. COS and other high ranking positions are still filled with Rauneretts.
- Long Time R - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 2:07 pm:
COS is a Dem and the new Secretary has been at IDOT 20 years before his promotion. They both could have corrected this issue months ago. This state has to stop judging department heads by political affiliation. Let’s just get the best qualified people and not worry about D Or R.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 2:29 pm:
Permits often have to go through several sections before being approved (safety, construction, etc.). A permit can get stalled at any step if that section drops the ball or has an intentional problem of some kind (personnel, internal politics, too much to do). IDOT is a very siloed organization, and territoriality also plays a part.
I also think that IDOT does not prioritize permit approvals, since they do not generally help IDOT get it’s own work done.
- Downstate - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 4:03 pm:
In my dealings with IDOT, they have the speed of a sloth, with the decision making of a vacillating weasel.
- Power House Prowler - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 6:23 pm:
Have conitioned that there is no money period. It isnt just at IDOT. Two years with no budget ruined state agencies.
- Not a Billionaire - Thursday, Apr 11, 19 @ 8:06 pm:
Actually they did have a budget of a large part of it based on a story about the Peoria meeting Sen Sandoval had the GA is going to keep an eye on spending. There was a group supporting US 34 and Sandovol told them their reps were not supporting the gas tax …….implied was it was not going to happen unless they do.
- Kate Cloonen - Friday, Apr 12, 19 @ 8:14 am:
It would be great if Governor Pritzker had coffee at Blue’s Cafe. However, they would never let me host “Coffee with Kate” there.