CHICAGO CITY HALL (WBBM Newsradio) -- The city of Chicago is closer to taking over the city's Greyhound bus terminal, even as a key alderman raises concerns about the Johnson Administration's plan for the property.
The owner of the Greyhound terminal, 630 W. Harrison St., has said it plans to close the building. The city wants to stretch an economic development area known as a "tax increment district" two blocks so that it can buy the terminal, to preserve what Mayor Brandon Johnson describes as an important resource.
"We're creating access for working people, for poor people, for families who are seeking reproductive care in the city of Chicago," the mayor told reporters after Wednesday's City Council meeting.
The Chicago Community Development Commission signed off Tuesday on the plan for the terminal. It's in the ward of Alderman Bill Conway, who described the administration's presentation as a "total train wreck."
"No plan for public safety. No plan for operations. No plan for traffic," said Ald. Conway (34th Ward). "This is $50 million in taxpayer money, and we have to make sure that we're doing right by the taxpayers of the city of Chicago."
The mayor sought to dismiss those concerns, saying "that work is going to continue," and repeating his pledge that public safety is his top priority: "It's not enough to make sure ... that we build safe cities. They gotta be affordable."
City Council could vote in the next two months.
Alderman bashes lack of public safety plan: 'total train wreck'
Alderman bashes lack of public safety plan: 'total train wreck'
