CHICAGO – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD), toured urban flooding sites in at Graue Mill in Hinsdale, Illinois and Albany Park in Chicago, Illinois and received updates on the flood prevention investments made in these neighborhoods.
“The destruction that urban flooding has had on communities like Albany Park and Graue Mill is unimaginable. I’m proud to be a part of the efforts to improve the infrastructure in these communities so they can withstand the next storm and keep their families safe,” said Rep. Quigley. “There are many communities similar to Albany Park and Graue Mill that experience the tragic effects of urban flooding. While infrastructure improvements are a step in the right direction, dramatic flooding is a sign of a larger problem – climate change. For the sake of communities like Albany Park and Graue Mill, Congress needs to do more to address the growing concerns and effects that climate change is causing today.”
Rep. Quigley’s tour started in Albany Park at Eugene Field Park, where he was joined by Alderman Margaret Laurino and two Chicago Department of Transportation engineers. The engineers briefed the Congressman and Alderman Laurino on the status of the Albany Park Tunnel. The tunnel is designed as a passive system that makes use of gravity to divert storm water from the river, bypassing Albany Park, and moving it downstream to an outlet shaft that will spit the water into the North Shore Channel.
Afterwards, Rep. Quigley toured the Graue Mill flood mitigation project with the President of Graue Mill Homeowners Association, John Donaker; Dupage County Board member and head of the county’s Stormwater Committee, James Zay; and Hinsdale Village Manager, Kathleen Gargano. The project is a carefully planned series of improvements, including new berms, high capacity drains and grading improvements that will provide Graue Mill with formidable defenses against the next storm of the century.
“Structural issues have led to extensive flooding in the Graue Mill neighborhood for several years,” said James Zay, DuPage County Board member and chairman of the County’s Stormwater Committee. “Congressman Quigley’s efforts, particularly in securing $2.5 million in federal grant money, have been instrumental in our plans to improve those issues in an effort to mitigate flooding concerns in DuPage County.”
With portions of Illinois’ 5th Congressional District devastated by flooding three times in the past seven years, Rep. Quigley has partnered with Senator Durbin to introduce the bicameral Urban Flooding Awareness Act. He and Senator Durbin have also met with victims of Chicago’s urban flooding to discuss solutions. Rep. Quigley has been an outspoken advocate for the completion of flood control measures such as the McCook and Thornton Reservoirs. Through his position on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Quigley worked to secure $2.57 million in federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fund a critical flood prevention project for the Graue Mill area. He has also actively called for revising the process of awarding federal aid to disaster-afflicted communities. In 2013, Rep. Quigley and Sen. Durbin secured $29 million in federal grants to help the Chicagoland area and the state of Illinois recover from spring flooding.
Source: U.S. Representative Mike Quigley
