The Chicago region's main planning agency turned thumbs-down last week on the proposed Illiana Corridor amid charges that the governor was playing political hardball to get the project approved. IDOT has proposed that the Illiana be built as a toll road under a public-private partnership (P3).

The board of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), made up of representatives from the seven-county region and the city of Chicago, voted 10-4 to reject the $1.3 billion project.

A final, decisive vote on the Illiana will take place on Oct. 17 by another key regional planning board, the Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Committee. The Policy Committee is made up of county board chairmen as well as the heads of mass transit agencies and is chaired by Illinois Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider.

The project needs the support of the planning boards for development. But CMAP contends the project is incompatible with the agency's long-range master plan.