Study stirs Illiana opposition

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BY PATRICK GUINANE
pguinane@nwitimes.com
317.637.9078 | Wednesday, September 26, 2007 | (4 comment(s))

INDIANAPOLIS | A two-year study of the Illiana Expressway has yet to leave the starting block, but angst over the proposed highway was in full stride Tuesday.

Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-Schererville, told a legislative panel the Illiana would emaciate northern Lake County, diverting jobs and homeowners farther south and giving the long-proposed Peotone airport a edge against Gary/Chicago International Airport.

"This really doesn't do anything for the tax base of Lake County, and it really doesn't do anything for jobs in Lake County," Scheub said. "As the north end of the county goes, so goes the rest of Lake County."

Legislators challenged Scheub to put some facts behind his rhetoric. That's what lawmakers are trying to accomplish by ordering the Indiana Department of Transportation to conduct a feasibility study of the Illiana, which would connect Interstate 57 in Illinois with Interstate 65 in Lake County.

"You do understand that this is a study to determine the economic benefits (of the proposed highway)?" state Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, asked Scheub.

"The purpose is to get facts, not to make decisions on rumors and hearsay," added state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso.

The panel also heard from LaPorte County Councilman Jerry Cooley, who worried lawmakers would revive Gov. Mitch Daniels' proposal to extend the Illiana east to Interstate 94. Soliday reminded Cooley that Daniels dropped that suggestion and the eastern leg is not part of the current study.

The state has hired Cambridge Systematics, a Massachusetts firm with offices in Chicago, to conduct the Illiana study.

State Sen. Sue Landske, the Cedar Lake Republican who heads the Illiana study oversight panel, said she hopes to schedule a public hearing in the region in December, after the committee receives initial financing estimates. She appeared stunned by the opposition leveled at a mere study still in its infancy.

"We can't pour concrete," Landske said. "We aren't anywhere near that work."

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lowell wrote on Sep 26, 2007 10:15 PM:

" sounds like crown point democrats are up to their usual dirty trick politics... how sad ... this does a REAL disservice to your & my communities....we all know that this will NEVER materialize in our lifetimes... & neither will the peotone airport... "

Interested in the Future of NWI wrote on Sep 26, 2007 9:51 PM:

" Get out of the region and see other areas of the country. The reality of NWI is the area no longer creates jobs. If an employer can not get supplies in or employees to commute to work, employers go elsewhere. How much resistance to improving the infrastructure can we show to the world? If the region keeps scaring off jobs, who is going to live here and pay the politicians' salaries? Since when do the needs of the citizens in the along the Lake override the needs of the citizens in the south? The county level leaders need to consider the needs of the entire county. NWI is moving from rural to suburban development. When the road system breaks in the future, those who oppose any new infrastructure should not complain about traffic and reduced quality of life. "

Jim wrote on Sep 26, 2007 9:04 PM:

" I wonder how Landske would feel if the study group determines the tollroad should be in her back yard? What part of "WE DON'T WANT IT!" don't they get?? The folks in Porter county must have representatives that actually listen and care about the people who put them in office!! Looks like Lake County voters need to make some changes. "

crown point wrote on Sep 26, 2007 10:10 AM:

" the only way to stop the politicians from doing what THEY want is to vote them all out next election!!!!I won't be voting for the Cedar Lake Republican!!!! "

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