City money
Chicago plans $18.1 billion in building and repairs over five years. Each ward also gets $1.5 million a year for street projects its alderperson picks.
Five-year plan 2025–2029 · ward street money through Sept. 30, 2026 · checked Nov. 11, 2026
The city’s five-year building plan, 2025–2029
$18.1 billion by program. About 40% is borrowing repaid from airport, water and sewer revenue; the rest comes from city bonds, TIF, federal, state and other money.
The plan is updated each year; this is the most recent one the city has published. Information technology isn’t printed as its own total; it’s the rest of the $18.1 billion.
Ward street money: what alderpeople picked
$67.9 million committed of $75 million for 2026, through Sept. 30. Every ward gets $1.5 million a year.
Ward by ward
Share of each ward’s 2026 street money committed by Sept. 30.
Tap or point at a ward to see its numbers.
Most money not yet committed (incl. past years)
Most on sidewalks
9 of 50 wards had committed all $1.5 million by Sept. 30. Each ward’s page lists what its money went to.
The plan is the city’s own list of intended projects
There is no outside target for capital spending. The five-year plan says what the city intends to build and how it expects to pay; the ward money has to be committed by each alderperson, and what isn’t committed carries over. The 2025–2029 plan (PDF) ›
Program totals are the five-year plan’s own charts. Ward street money is the city’s third-quarter report: we read each project’s type and estimated cost and grouped the types. Our totals match each ward’s committed total except Ward 16, where the listed projects add up to $7,730 more. The plan lists what the city intends to spend, not what it spent.
Sources: City of Chicago, 2025–2029 Capital Improvement Program · City of Chicago, 2026 Q3 Aldermanic Menu Report