The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) are working together with a common goal of making sure the city's streets are safer. 

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two departments was announced in a Jan. 17 press release.

“As set out in the City of Chicago’s Strategic Plan for Transportation and funded through Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago Works local capital bond, CDOT is leveraging all our projects to implement high-impact safety solutions,” said CDOT Commissioner Gia Biagi in the release. “This MOU is an important step forward in creating safer streets for our most vulnerable road users, such as children, people with disabilities, older adults and people walking, biking and rolling.”

The MOU pre-approved certain infrastructure designs to improve safety for pedestrians, bikers and drivers, in an effort to curb the spike in traffic fatalities in the city, the release stated. It was signed by Biagi and IDOT secretary Omer Osman. 

About 400 miles of roads, minus the expressways, fall under the MOU and gives CDOT the ability to implement traffic safety designs, such as better sidewalks and wider traffic lanes, without a prior review by IDOT.

According to the release, the MOU, which took effect immediately, also aims to increase safety at intersections by clarifying standards surrounding the largest vehicle likely to use the intersection that affects the roadway's design.