Illinois Comptroller To Postpone Due Date For Traffic Fines

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza announced this week that her office will not be deducting past due traffic and parking fines and costs from the tax returns of the poor and moderately income residents. The office of the comptroller has the power to collect past due traffic and parking fees from residents’ tax returns. Her office announced the following: “The Illinois Office of Comptroller will not be deducting any fines or fees from the tax returns of Illinois’ working poor this year…Low- and moderate-income taxpayers in Illinois, who qualify for the state-earned income tax credit will receive their entire tax refund this year.”

It must be pointed out that the $15 million that is past due is not being forgiven. Payment will instead be due next year. The office also pointed out that the grace period could be extended if there is not a significant economic recovery due to the pandemic. This is no doubt a huge relief for many Chicagoans and residents around the state of Illinois who have been hit hard economically the covid-19 pandemic. Hopefully this will provide many with some financial breathing room.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a Chicago traffic accident, then call Chicago accident lawyer, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.

Chicago Ranked 3rd Most Congested City In U.S.

According to a new traffic study by INRIX, a private company that that analyzes traffic data and trends, has ranked Chicago the 3rd most congested U.S. city behind New York and Philadelphia. This is somewhat surprising news to those of us that have witness such light traffic around the city since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic.

There’s more bad news.. The study found that the inbound Interstate 290/294 to Interstate 90/94 interchange in downtown Chicago is the number 1 ranked most congested corridor in the country. That should come as no surprise due to the history of this interchange and the construction in that are over the last few years.

Finally, Chicago was ranked the 7th most congested city in world.

This is troubling news, and locals have to wonder is whether there will be any improvement. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot previously made changes to the city budget to improve and increase bike lanes and improve the bus lanes travelling in and out of downtown. The purpose was to hopefully decrease the number of rideshare vehicles. Unfortunately, those changes have improved Chicago’s ranking as a traffic congested city. We can only hope those changes slowly improve.

The other change that I hope will improve congestion will the completion of construction at the I-90/94 and I-290 interchange. Construction has closed exit lanes and made the traffic much worse. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. I guess we will have to wait to see if that will bring improvements to the traffic congestion.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago truck accident, then call Chicago injury attorney, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.