With aims of bolstering freight status, Invest in Cook comes to 157th Street

One of Harvey’s main arteries is getting an overhaul thanks to a new partnership with Cook County. 157th street between West Ave and Highway 1 will be re-imagined following a unanimous city council vote Sept. 22 to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the county. 

Cook County’s Invest in Cook initiative allocated $300,000 to Harvey to enter the design phase of the project. The focus is to bolster Harvey’s status as a freight hub in the county while paving the way for public transportation options. 

Invest in Cook allocated $8,270,810 countywide to support road, pedestrian, public transit, and bike-friendly infrastructure across the county. 

The measure passed a full city council unanimously. Without exiting for an executive session, the city’s official business lasted 20 minutes and was uncharacteristically calm. 

In sharp contrast to the routine meeting came public comment. 

“We are still a city in crisis,” Ryan Sinwelski said. “We have no access to city financials, and the city has literally been burning. So why did Mayor Clark cancel last week’s city council meeting?” 

Sinwelski has been documenting the aftermath of numerous house fires across Harvey over the summer. Sinwelski jabbed at the broken air conditioning issue, the cited cause of the cancellation the week before. He reminded city council members and Clark that taxpayers pay their salaries. 

Other commenters broached concerns about the threat of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in the Harvey community. There have been multiple sightings of agents along 159th St.

Clark said he hasn’t heard anything from federal or state officials regarding ICE in Harvey and stressed that the federal agents’ potential presence shouldn’t be taken lightly. 

“How many people of Mexican descent live in our community?” Clark said. “They have been treated, as far as this administration is concerned, as they are part of the family and they will continue to do so.”