It is not yet known what will become of the project should it not feature in the plan, however the group's transportation committee narrowly approved the project in a preliminary vote last week.
A request for qualifications for the project is currently scheduled to be issued this fall by the Illinois and Indiana state governments, under a design, build, finance, operate and maintain framework.
This announcement came last month, despite criticism of the deal from the Chicago Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), which called for the project to be excluded from the priority plan amid concerns over the long-term value of the deal.
Despite this, Illinois Department of Transportation has dismissed the claims, claiming that the MPC’s analysis was “flawed”.