Chicago Mayor Pushes $7 Billion Renovation Plan

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday announced a $7.3 billion plan to improve the city’s infrastructure.

The plan would not only rebuild parts of the city, but would reinvigorate the local economy by creating around 30,000 new jobs in the next three years, his office said.

“No city in America relies on its infrastructure more than Chicago. While our infrastructure challenges are not unique, our resolve and determination to see them through is,” Emanuel said in a statement.

The mayor said that the funds would go toward improving Chicago’s parks, railways, buildings, bridges, roads, and pipe systems. The money would renovate, rebuild, or repair more than 100 transit stations.

Around $1.4 billion of those funds will go toward investments into the O'Hare airport over the next three years, including the opening of two new runways, which will create around 5,900 jobs in total, Emanuel’s office said.