Anti-Illiana Gift From The Times

The Northwest Indiana Times had this little tidbit about the Illiana Expressway in a Christmas Eve item giving advice to Santa Claus on what he should give to local political leaders and the like and suggested giving coal to the anti-Illiana crowd:

Opponents of the Illiana Expressway study. The proposal was to study the feasibility of constructing a new expressway that would serve as an outer beltway for the Chicago area — beginning at I-94 in LaPorte County and continuing into Illinois. The not-in-my-back-yard crowd adamantly opposed not just construction, which would have been a separate discussion once facts were known, but even the very idea of discussing the proposal.

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Comments

3 Responses to “Anti-Illiana Gift From The Times”

Laura Blaney on December 31st, 2007 11:55 am

As is often the case with Illiana Toll Road stories, the Times did not accurately portray the facts surrounding the Illiana and the stance of its opposition.

“The not-in-my-back-yard crowd adamantly opposed not just construction, which would have been a separate discussion once facts were known”

The “study” and the construction of the Illiana were absolutely NOT separate discussions in any way, shape, or form. As Senate Bill 1 (you don’t get to be SB 1 without a lot of preplanning behind the scenes) was written, its passage would have allowed the CONSTRUCTION of the Illiana. It was NOT a study bill as many of its proponents tried to spin it for the public. On top of that curly shuffle, the only public input meetings held by the state that occured in NWI happened 10 days before Christmas with the announcements of their times and locations coming out in press releases only 2 days prior. CAPIT ended up holding its own meeting to allow the public the chance to get their views presented to their legislators at great expense (monetary and time). 8 legislators spent a Saturday (during session) listening to the concerns of over a thousand local residents. CAPIT was hardly formed to scream over a study. If that was the case, you’d be hearing more from us regarding the current study.
Chris on January 2nd, 2008 12:49 am

Hi Laura,

Thanks for stopping by. It is always good to hear from CAPIT supporters.
Laura Blaney on January 13th, 2008 9:14 pm

My pleasure, Chris.
Laura