EDITORIAL: Fewer surprises this time would help Illiana Expressway move forward

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| Thursday, June 26, 2008 | (5 comment(s))

The Illiana Expressway study is crawling along, moving toward a recommendation on possible routes for this portion of an outer ring around the Chicago area.

The expressway will be a much more condensed version than the plan rejected by the Indiana General Assembly last year. The new incarnation will connect I-57 in Illinois with I-65 in Indiana. It won't continue on through Porter and LaPorte counties to complete the outer ring, connecting to I-94.

It also won't be built with private dollars under the current proposal. The public will be expected to pick up the tab for the construction.

That much has been known since the study was authorized by the General Assembly last year. So what's new?

Andy Dietrick, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation, said Cambridge, Mass.-based Cambridge Systematics is in the first of six phases of its study. Cambridge will identify three possible routes, likely northern, central and southern options.

By Jan. 1, Cambridge is expected to submit a first draft that will include traffic patterns, lane configurations, environmental impact, possible tolls and anticipated traffic levels through 2035.

Dietrick said INDOT doesn't plan to disclose cost estimates until the study in completed in July 2009.

A legislative committee has been set up to study the expressway, but Dietrick said he isn't aware of any committee meetings scheduled this summer. Not to hear an update on the study's progress would be a mistake.

House Speaker Pat Bauer on Tuesday appointed state Rep. Terri Austin, the House Transportation Committee chairwoman, to chair the Illiana Expressway Proposal Review Committee. Austin knows firsthand about the original Illiana Expressway and Indiana Commerce Connector -- an outer ring around Indianapolis -- proposals and the controversy last year.

Part of what torpedoed the original plan was that people were caught off guard when the grand plan was unveiled. They needed time to think through the concept.

One of the opponents now says one of her primary objections was that the route would cut off north-south traffic throughout Porter County. That could have been addressed in the design of the road, however.

Instead, the study of the full route wasn't authorized. This shorter route was instead.

Rather than surprise everyone when the study is completed, state lawmakers on the Illiana oversight committee need to meet this summer to hear progress and offer guidance so the process will go more smoothly this time. And keep the public updated along the way.

The Illiana Expressway has been discussed -- and needed -- for decades. The new road being discussed now must not suffer the same fate as the longer route.

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been there wrote on Jun 26, 2008 8:35 PM:

" By surprises do you mean no "secret agreements" or beforehand knowledge by a priviledged few, or no taxpayer money being spent on adveritizing to convince a public that doesn't want this that they really do? Do you mean actual figures that would show that our taxes, whether they be federal, state or local will pay for this thing?
There is no free money given by the government, only that taken by taxes or printed. Surprise, Cambribridge Systematics is also studying putting an intermodal in Northwest Indiana.

How about the suprise that the road leads from the large intermodal development area in Will County to the "Mitch's pet" intermodal site in LaPorte County. Look at the original map, right past Union Mills.

Watch Leigh Morris, now appointed Indiana Toll Road director and head of the Regional Development Authority as he works to convince Northwest Indiana that these things are good for us, rather than the developers and large corporations. Kicked out of office in LaPorte for good reason.

Who is this road for?

Thanks, Mitch! "

Rich wrote on Jun 26, 2008 4:36 PM:

" We are in Peak Oil, Global Warming is toasting the planet and this paper supports building more roads. Unbelievable that the group of educated people that run and own this paper could propose such a project. What is needed is "real" public transportation, like a mono-rail down the middle of U.S. 30 from Wanatah to the state line and connected to the last Metra Station. Then add north/south routes from the mills and Dunes Park to make a system that connects something. "

Joe Luddite wrote on Jun 26, 2008 2:33 PM:

" No, sure don't need it...No Indiana drivers on I-94. Our interstates are pretty much empty....

Don't need no newfangled airport either. Them jet powered whirly gigs are just a fad...

I love sightseeing in Gary on my way to the Gary airport, through my bulletproof windows. Oops, guess nobody else feels safe driving there either. Maybe that's why every passenger service has failed.

You people are nitwits. "

Homer J. SImpson wrote on Jun 26, 2008 8:07 AM:

" Don't need it and don't want it. It will only benefit the state of Illinois when they build the Peotone Airport that no one wants also. Take the energy and work on expanding the Gary Airport which is already in place. "

Wet Hen wrote on Jun 26, 2008 6:37 AM:

" Is it really NEEDED?, or is it another boondoggle that will waste taxpayers while lining the pockets of the connected? "

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