Members of an Indiana House committee debating a bill on the proposed Illiana Expressway traveled to Northwest Indiana on Thursday to hear public testimony about the project.
Labor leaders, area construction and ironworkers and concerned residents shared their views on the proposed highway with the House Roads and Transportation Committee in a packed auditorium at Crown Point High School in Crown Point, Ind.
Senate Bill 382 authorizes, but does not require, a public-private partnership to build the Illiana Expressway as a toll road. The plan calls for the Illiana to be a 25- to 30-mile stretch connecting Interstate 65 in Indiana with Interstate 57 in Illinois.
A companion bill in the Illinois General Assembly calls for a public-private partnership to take the Illiana as far west as Interstate 55, said John Swanson, executive director of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission.
Under such a partnership, a private developer would work with the state to build the tollway, and the developer would recoup its investment through tolls. The highway would revert back to the state when the developer’s lease expired.
In all, about 10 miles of the Illiana would be in Indiana, according to Rep. Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City, Ind.), who took over sponsorship of the bill from Speaker of the House Pat Bauer.
“Part of the reason for this bill is not just about putting people back to work, but to give hope years down the road for there to be enough good-paying jobs in Northwest Indiana and for the region to continue to develop,” Pelath said.
A preliminary start date for construction of the Illiana would be 2017.
“I’m tired of sitting in that parking lot that they call the Borman (I-80-94),” Sharon Patterson, of Lowell, Ind., said. “It takes forever to get to Chicago. On I-65 as soon as you hit Ridge Road, you are sitting there. Everyone keeps saying ‘not in my back yard,’ but I’m saying, ‘yes, put it in my back yard.’ ”
Ed Linden, of Lowell, told the committee that he’d like to see a road built near I-80/94.
“This road isn’t going to help Indiana,” Linden said of the Illiana. “It’s going to help Illinois. I believe it’s going to kill our airport in Gary. I don’t see a big hurry to get this bill passed. I would like to see research on a northern route next to I-80/94 where it should be.”
John Sorensen, an official of the local chapter of the International Union of Operating Engineers, said the Illiana would bring jobs.
“We need jobs,” Sorensen said. “There are a lot of people out there that aren’t employed. We have the opportunity to make the Illiana a reality for 50 to 100 years. The Illiana has been talked about. Anyone who has traveled I-80/94 knows that it’s needed.”
Dawn Straughen, of West Creek Township, Ind., opposed the Illiana because one of its potential routes would would go through her home.
“I don’t want to lose my home,” Straughen said. “I agree we do need jobs, but I wouldn’t want to have a job at the expense of someone losing their home.”
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services