Illiana Expressway: Let's Build Burnham's Third Ring Road: House Approves Illiana Study Legislation

The Indiana House passed legislation yesterday that would authorize a study of the Illiana Expressway from I-65 in Lake County, Indiana to I-57 in Illinois, reports the Northwest Indiana Times.

The measure was passed by voice vote after it was offered as an amendment. The legislation removes the possibility of the Illiana Expressway extending into Porter County or being operated by private entities, reports the Northwest Indiana Times.

State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, won support Thursday for a plan to study an Illiana Expressway that won't run through Porter or LaPorte counties or be built with the help of private financing.

The proposal, contained in an amendment the House adopted by a voice vote, still would allow the state to study building the road as a tollway, but only from Interstate 65 in Lake County to Interstate 57 in Illinois. Supporters say the move would put some concrete answers behind a debate now fueled by emotion.

"We need the facts," Soliday said. "Let's get the facts, and let's stop shouting at one another."

The Illiana has been a dream of urban planners for decades. But loud opponents in southern Porter County saw it as a nightmare that would end their bucolic lifestyle.

Reports the Post-Tribune:

The measure allows only a study of the proposal. It does not give the governor authority to enter into a public-private partnership for a company to build the Illiana.
"Let me repeat: There is no P-3 authority in this amendment," Soliday said while explaining his plan, an acknowledgement that much of the opposition in Northwest Indiana to an earlier bill focused on the power it would have given Gov. Mitch Daniels to pursue such a contract to build the Illiana after a study was finished.
Soliday's amendment sets a two-year time limit on the study, and caps the state's payment for the work at $2 million. The study would look only at the western leg of the proposal, from Interstate 57 in Illinois to Interstate 65.
Soliday's amendment would create a bipartisan committee composed of four senators and four representatives to which The Indiana Department of Transportation would report the findings of the feasibility study.
The measure stipulates at least four of the eight members of the committee come from Lake County.
"We can't decide whether to do anything until we have accurate information about whether this would work," Soliday said. "Let's get that information."

Now, let's get out there and study the Illiana Expressway, then build Daniel Burnham's third ring road around Chicago by connecting the Illiana to I-355 at I-80! The visionary planner of Chicago's beautiful lake front saw the need for a third ring road almost a century ago!