The new 1.5-mile dedicated bus lane will be installed on northbound Michigan Avenue between Roosevelt Road and Wacker Drive in an effort to reduce delays along the downtown corridor, the city announced Wednesday.

The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage surpassed 7% for the first time since January 2025 last week, according to federal lender Freddie Mac. That’s after the Federal Reserve’s first rate hike since 2023, raising rates by a quarter of a percentage point earlier this month.

In the fall, bridges along the Main and South branches of the Chicago River are lifted to allow boats to move into winter storage facilities. The scheduled bridge lifts start this week and run through mid-November, the Chicago Department of Transportation announced.

The state’s program put Illinois just behind California and New York in terms of incentives available to filmmakers.

The $900 million project would move the Midwest Maintenance Facility to a dormant railyard along South Canal Street from 33rd to 35th streets, next to Rate Field. Amtrak officials have been met with pushback from residents in Bridgeport, Chinatown and Armour Square.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy quickly turned Monday’s disruption that hit every major airport in the New York area into the latest example of why he’s asking Congress for $20 billion more to pay for the next phase of the air traffic control overhaul.

Diesel surpassed $6 per gallon for the first time in U.S. history earlier this month, according to data from AAA. Today, diesel sits at $6.51 per gallon, an all-time high. A year ago, it was $3.69. The cost of diesel rose 42 cents last week alone.

Twelve states and Hollywood writers challenging Paramount’s buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to settle their lawsuits on Monday, effectively paving the way for the $81 billion mega merger to cross the finish line, with some new commitments from the company.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ground beef prices hit $7.16 per pound in August 2026, a 7.9% jump from 2025. That’s more than double the overall annual inflation rate of 3.4%, and nearly triple the rate for food overall.

Residents are pushing back on plans to build a 24/7 Amtrak maintenance facility in Bridgeport. The transportation company said a new site is necessary, citing the current South Loop location as “undersized and fragmented.”

New warnings from within the artificial intelligence industry have revived a long-running debate over whether advanced AI could escape human control and ultimately threaten humanity’s survival.

The national average of nearly $6.06 is up from $5.85 last week and almost $3.71 this time last year, according to motor club AAA.

The grants from the Department of Agriculture are part of a three-year-old program aimed at making it easier for local farmers to process and distribute food locally. In total, 61 organizations received grants, 16 of them in Cook County and the other 45 distributed among 34 other counties.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office has reached a settlement agreement with the Northern Illinois Gas Company to cut the natural gas utility’s requested rate increase by approximately $140 million.

The report, “Hunkering Down: The Hidden Economic Cost of Federal Immigration Enforcement in Cook County, IL,” was released by UIC’s Great Cities Institute. The report also found an estimated $107 million was lost in local sales tax revenue.

Chicago’s airports are projected to see more passengers than last year, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. For those hitting the road, car traffic is expected to peak Thursday and Friday, according to AAA.