At a recent conference in London, the National Infrastructure Plan for the UK was outlined.  This is a plan to invest £ 400 billion over 10 yrs in UK infrastructure including high speed rail, energy (especially nuclear and wind), aviation, water and wastewater, roads and highways, and high speed broadband.  Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this plan is the intention that 70% of the funding will come from the private sector.

The Mayor of Chicago has just outlined a $7 billion infrastructure development plan for Chicago.  An important participant in this plan is the Chicago Infrastructure Trust, an initiative announced by Mayor Emanuel and former President Bill Clinton.  The fund is a nonprofit corporation that collects private investment which is then applied to infrastructure development.

The Mayor specifically mentioned several major projects including

• $1 billion for the Chicago Transit Authority to renovate more than 100 stations and eliminate “slow zones”
• $1.4 billion for O’Hare International Airport for two new runways by 2015 and other expansion.
• $290 million for new parkland, playgrounds, basketball courts, sports fields, nature trails and bike and running paths.
• $1.4 billion to fix Chicago’s water system (3,800 leaks last year), including the replacement of 900 miles of century-old water pipe, the repair of 750 miles of sewer line, and the reconstruction of 160,000 catch-basins.
• A $660 million investment in Chicago Public Schools, and a $479 million investment in the City Colleges of Chicago
• “Retrofit Chicago,” a $225 million dollar effort to retrofit City buildings, reducing their energy consumption by 25 percent – the first project funded by the Chicago Infrastructure Trust.

Presumably this is in addition to the consent decree that Chicago agreed to in December of last year to address the issue of combined sewer overflows that it is estimated will cost the city about $3 billion.