Illiana Expressway Cut From Corridors Of The Future Program

The Illiana Expressway was cut from the Corridors of the Future program, but that doesn't mean that the project to build an interstate connecting I-57 in Will County, Illinois to I-65 in Lake County, Indiana won't still proceed.

From the Northwest Indiana Times:

The Illiana Expressway failed to make the final cut for the federal Corridors of the Future program, a setback that chokes off both instant planning cash and long-term financial perks for the long-stalled Northwest Indiana highway.

Copyright 2007, Christopher Hedges, All Rights Reserved.

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Illiana Expressway Could Be Reality By 2018

The Indiana Department of Transportation's Illiana Expressway Phase 2 Grant Application for designation of the proposed highway as a Corridor of the Future contains the following timeline that suggests that if all goes as planned, the Illiana Expressway could be reality by 2018.

See Illiana Expressway Phase 2 Grant Proposal, section 10-1.

Through the Bi-state Agreement between Illinois and Indiana, the general scope of a feasibility study of the Illiana Corridor has been developed. This process has reached another milestone in Indiana Governor Daniels’ recent signing of legislation which directs the Indiana DOT to perform a needs assessment for the Illiana Corridor.

The study will provide a description of the need for an Illiana Expressway, projections for right-of-way acquisition costs, expected use of the proposed expressway and any toll revenues, expected construction costs, expected operating and maintenance costs, funding options, the project’s ability to relieve traffic congestion, and economic impacts.

By following the INDOT EA/Corridor Study Process, this phase of project development will result in a reasonable range of alternatives that may proceed directly into an EIS. The study is to be completed by July 1, 2009.

Following development of the feasibility study, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be completed. This process, which typically takes five years for such projects, will conclude with a record of decision (ROD). Acceleration of this timeframe is possible for the Illiana Corridor because some of the EIS activities are to be conducted in the feasibility study.

Accordingly, a ROD could be achieved by July 1, 2012, two years earlier than with the traditional approach which would result in a ROD by mid-2014.

Final design and engineering will begin on issuance of the ROD. On similar projects, based on a traditional project delivery approach this process would take another four years, combined with right-of-way acquisition, after which construction would commence, in approximately mid-2018.

Copyright 2007, ChristopherHedges.com, All Rights Reserved.

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INDOT Submits Illiana Expressway Corridors of the Future Application Phase 2

The Indiana Department of Transportation has submitted its Phase 2 application on behalf of the proposed Illiana Expressway being built as a "Corridor of the Future."

Here are links INDOT's Illiana Expressway COF proposal (in PDF):
Part I -- Illiana Expressway and Freight Corridor, Corridors of the Future, Phase 2
Part II -- Illiana Expressway and Freight Corridor, Corridors of the Future, Phase 2

Copyright 2007, ChristopherHedges.com, All Rights Reserved.

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Will High Farm Land Prices Affect Illiana Expressway Plans?

The proposed Illiana Expressway would cut across farm land in South Lake County. The Post-Tribune's Cristin Nance details how land prices are rising for the 482 farms in Lake County that cover 127,742 acres because of increased demand for corn to produce ethanol.

A single crop is making farm land all over the country more valuable this spring: corn.

The ethanol production boom has boosted prices to close to $4 a bushel. As a result, farmers are expected to plant 90.5 million acres of corn -- a 15 percent increase over 2006.

There are now 114 ethanol refineries nationwide and another 80 under construction. Ethanol plants are popping up all over Indiana and (John) Bryant (Jr) said it's driving up land prices as well.

The estimated value of farm real estate for the county in 2002 was almost $3,000 per acre. Bryant has heard of land prices in the neighborhood of $5,000 to $6,000 range.

"It all depends on where you are," Bryant said.

What will the high land prices mean for the future of the Illiana Expressway?

Will farmers (or their children) be tempted to sell their land if the price is right? Or, will high land prices make it more likely that farmers will hold on to their valuable land?

Will the Illiana Expressway have to be built as an elevated roadway as a compromise to save land while providing a needed transportation route as truck traffic on the Borman Expressway increases in the future as well as provide Lake County with economic development opportunities?

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Schererville Historian Predicts Illiana Expressway Will Be Built

The Northwest Indiana Times ran a story detailing the history of the Borman Expressway yesterday that contained a prediction from a Shererville historian that the Illiana Expressway will eventually be built.

(Art) Schweitzer said the current controversy over the Illiana may slow up plans for the roadway, but won't halt its actual construction. That's because prominent developers and business people are backing the road.

"The road will roll through," Schweitzer said. "It's just a matter of time."

My prediction: The Illiana Expressway will be built as well, but it is unlikely that it will be approved if Indiana has a Republican governor and a Democrat-controlled legislature.

Ellsworth Watch reported recently that an operative with funding from the state and national Democratic Party organizations has been organizing people against the I-69 project, even though it has been popular with Evansville politicians for decades.

The economic development opportunities are too great to pass up and local Democrats have expressed support for the Illiana Expressway in the past. Plus, the estimates that highway construction provides high paying union jobs as well as creating thousands of new jobs -- one union local predicts 47,000 jobs are created for each $1 billion in highway funding -- is too much for any political leader to turn down.

It might just be a matter of the Democrats wanting to strip out the aspects of the transportation project they don't like and also denying a victory to the GOP.

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My Illiana Dream Expressway

Here's my dream Illiana Expressway that can get me to many of the places I want to go in Illinois while avoiding traffic congestion on the Tri-State highway.

Run the Illiana Expressway from I-65 someplace in Lake County, Indiana to I-57. Continue the highway northeast to connect with the I-355 extension that will meet up with I-80 near New Lenox, Illinois.

From the Illinois Tollway:

The Illinois Tollway is constructing a 12.5-mile, three-lane extension of the North-South Tollway (I-355) from where it currently ends at the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) through Will County to I-80. This project is part of the Tollway's $5.3 billion Congestion-Relief Program to reduce travel times.

If this was the case, the Illiana Expressway would be an extension of I-355, providing easy access to Lake County, Indiana from Cook, Will, and DuPage counties in Illinois.

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Does CAPIT Really Care About North Lake County?

An interesting exchange occurred earlier on the Citizens Against the Privatized Illiana Toll Road in which someone asked if CAPIT was really concerned about North Lake County, or if they were just being patronizing?

From the CAPIT No Illiana Toll Road Yahoo group:

I have no problem with anyone who is either for or against the road and their reasons are their personal business.

However, I think you folks look silly letting these professional "activists" clowns hitch their wagon to your cause or visa versa, however it went.

Mr. Ahlberg was quoted in the Times today as saying that he is now (and I'm paraphrasing) deeply concerned about the plight of Gary.

Please.

Enough already with the patronization of those who have nothing to do with the reasons that you don't want this road. This is totally about not wanting a road through YOUR neighborhood and NOTHING to do with Gary or the northern cities, period.

After some remarks from the CAPIT membership, the groups' leader Dave Alhberg responded with his comments:

I have exchanged several e-mails with the gentleman that first posted under this subject. He was reacting to how I appeared in the newspaper articles and after I explained what I had said that wasn't quoted in the paper, he saw things much differently. I hope to meet him personally at the meeting in Lake County on Wednesday. ...

The gist of what I said at the press conference was that while concern for our home and land was what fired us up in the first place, further research showed that there were far reaching impacts from a public works project like the Illiana Toll Road, and that it was a mistake to look solely at the project and not take a wider view of planning for the NWI area. What I said about the boarded up buildings and closed businesses in Hammond and Gary was absolutely my true feelings. We cannot continue to turn green fields to brown fields, and just because we want to protect the green fields, doesn't mean we can't care about the brown fields.

It's really difficult to boil these thoughts down to the "quotes" the media wants to print, and in this case, apparently I wasn't successful. That won't stop me from continuing to try.

Dave

It's great to see the opposition to the Illiana Toll Road Expressway is keeping things civil when dealing with supporters of the Interstate highway project. Maybe the back and forth between the supporters and opponents will result in the best possible outcomes for Lake County -- even if both sides don't get exactly what they hoped they'd receive when and if the project is approved or tabled.

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Would Illiana Be Greatest Good For The Greatest Number?

The Herald Bulletin raises points concerning the Indiana Commerce Connector that are applicable to the proposed Illiana Toll Road Expressway. Fears of uncontrolled economic growth can be controlled through zoning and other efforts cities, towns and county governments already undertake.

The key question is what promises the greatest good for the most people?

Writes the Herald Bulletin editorial board:

There is a conflict between the wish for economic growth and the desire to maintain small, intimate communities. A lot of times, however, it’s difficult to maintain the community without the growth that will increase the tax base.

It becomes, like most everything else, a matter of compromise. John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism said “the greatest good for the greatest number.” We need to keep in mind that commerce and growth would serve area residents well.

We still think the growth the Commerce Connector would provide would be beneficial to the communities it would link. (Pendleton Town Council President Don) Henderson said he thinks it will eventually happen. We agree and suggest we plan on it.

Unions -- who represent 90% of highway construction workers -- say between 42,000 to 47,000 jobs are created for every $1 billion spent on road projects.

Lake County could use some of the economic stimulation that would be created by the Illiana Expressway Toll Road. The prospect of creating 47,000 extra jobs and putting many hard working union members to work building the Illiana Expressway Toll Road is not insignificant and weighs the scale heavily toward approval of the project.

We need to ask ourselves what would provide the greatest good for the most numbers of people in Lake County, Indiana before we turn our backs on a project that promises to bring significant economic development to Northwest Indiana.

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Highway Construction Trades 90% Unionized

Highway funding and construction creates many union jobs, according to the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 Business Manager Terry McGowan:

These are just some of the reasons that a recent Cambridge study submitted to the Federal Highway Administration cited that for every $1 billion dollars spent on highways nationwide, 47,000 new jobs are created.

Half of those jobs are directly related to the actual construction of roadway, the rest are incidental to the new investment in the local economy, not to mention the expansion of the existing infrastructure in that area. I hold firm in my conviction to this philosophy.

In my years serving this industry I have seen the highway infrastructure program serve as a barometer to the state’s economy as well as the good and welfare of our membership, an organization that has been building Wisconsin highways for more than 100 years. It is also an industry that is more than 90 percent organized.

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AFL-CIO: 42,000 Jobs For Each $1B Of Highway Spending

The AFL-CIO wrote in 2003 that 42,000 jobs are created for every $1 billion of highway spending when it was warning American workers about cuts the Bush Administration had made in funding highway construction projects.

A billion dollars invested in highway construction creates more than 42,000 jobs. The drastic cut in funding the Administration proposes will ripple through the economy beyond construction to manufacturing, services and other industries and affect jobs and the economy for years to come. ...

Under-investment in the national transportation infrastructure leads to inefficiencies in transport and delays in travel for business and for the traveling and commuting public.

Adequate investments in highway construction are also a key building block for ensuring homeland security. Indeed, national security was one of the key reasons motivating President Eisenhower's commitment to building a solid, well-maintained interstate highway system.

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'Ignoring The Needs Of The Future'

Morton Marcus argues that anti Illiana Expressway activists are ignoring the needs of the future for shortsighted personal concerns.

On another note, I am disappointed that Gov. Daniels has withdrawn his support for the Commerce Connector around the eastern and southern sides of the Indianapolis metro area. I am equally distressed that he orphaned the Illiana Expressway east of I-65.

These were good ideas he put forward. Now is the time to pursue them.

Today the public outcry against these initiatives is too strong for a smart politician to ignore. Soon it will be too late to advance these projects because the land will be built over and the number and intensity of the protests will be much greater. The governor proposed what will be needed. His ideas deserved serious consideration not knee-jerk opposition. The narrow-minded occupants of these lands today showed again the human tendency to ignore the needs of the future. Rather than risk their ire, the governor stepped back.

If Mitch Daniels was a good bureaucrat, he would have appointed a "blue ribbon" council to outline the transportation needs of the state.

Then he could have endorsed their proposals with less identification of his own political career with the projects themselves. It is always sad when voters won't consider the rational programs of their leaders.

And these are the same voters who follow blindly a president who is bereft of rational programs.

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CAPIT Plans Lake Co. Rally April 4

The Citizens Against the Privatized Illiana Toll Road plan a Lake County rally at the Fairgrounds on April 4, according to their Yahoo message board (free registration required).

Writes CAPIT leader Dave Ahlberg:

We have set up an informational meeting at the Lake County Fairgrouds, 4H Building on Wednesday, April 4, at 6:30.

This will be an opportunity for Lake County to show its strength in opposition to the I65 / I-57 Illiana Toll Road.

We need a LARGE turnout to show that we are not rolling over on the western section. We are opposed to the project, we are opposed to any study done by the state. We need to address this LOUD and CLEAR so that the legislators know there is "massive opposition" to the west end also.

This meeting may be the one and only chance Lake County residents have to show the Lake County opposition to the Illiana Toll Road. The Governor has stated that even the west end could be a Privatized Toll Road.

It's not over people! The whole thing could resurface in the closing days of the session. We need to keep up the heat! I hope to see you there.

It will be interesting to compare the number of license plates with "64" and "45, 94 & 96" prefixes are in the Lake County Fairgrounds parking lot that evening.

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'Don't Pass Up Opportunity'

St. John resident Bob O'Leary urges support for a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to improve roads in Lake County in a letter to the Northwest Indiana Times:

A key ingredient for a region to prosper is a good infrastructure, good rail and especially good roads. We do not have good roads. The Borman is a nightmare. I know people who won't even drive on the road, and it's only going to get worse. An opportunity, that until recently, is suddenly within reach to achieve improved roads, something to build a new economy on... logistics, and now suddenly I fear we are about to blow this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

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CAPIT Teams Up With Pro-Transit Groups, But Doesn't Support 1% Tax

Citizens Against the Privatized Illiana Toll Road has teamed up with transit supporters, but remains neutral on a 1% food and beverage tax to pay for the public transit services, reports the Northwest Indiana Times.

A group opposing the proposed Illiana Expressway is has agreed to team up with the Interfaith Federation and Save the Dunes Council to support what they are calling smart growth across the Region.

Citizens Against Privatized Illiana Toll Road also is distancing itself from a claim that it supports a 1 percent food and beverage tax to support regional busing.

Dave Ahlberg, president of Citizens Against Privatized Illiana Toll Road, said the inaccurate claim was the result of a misunderstanding that arose when his group agreed to team up with the Interfaith Federation and Save the Dunes Council.

CAPIT is neutral on the proposed tax, he said. But the group does share the coalition's opposition to the Illiana Expressway project and the call for alternative forms of transportation.

"We're just a group of like-minded people in some areas," Ahlberg said.

CAPIT's support for the tax was included in a press release announcing a press conference today on the new coalition.

CAPIT's neutral tax position makes sense because it has often been argued that rural areas end up subsidizing urban mass transit without any corresponding benefits for those taxpayers.

It would be interesting if a rural mass transit system could be developed that would be self-supporting, that wouldn't encourage sprawl (a NIRPC document shows some complain a Lowell South Shore Line might cause sprawl), and would be able to meet the needs of people in areas less densely populated than urban and suburban areas. But, it is likely that any such system would require heavy taxpayer subsidies to be able to operate.

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Pursue Revised Illiana Plan Says Post-Tribune

Lake County needs the revised Illiana Expressway for Lake County's economic growth, says the editorial board of the Post-Tribune.

Although the governor has altered his plan, we encourage the many planning and economic development groups in Northwest Indiana to remain supportive of the revised proposal for the Illiana Expressway.

Given the demographics of the area between Lowell and the Kankakee River, the Illiana can be built with minimum disruption. If Lake County is to reach its potential economically, the Illiana must be part of the equation.

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If State Operated Illiana, Would That Remove All Opposition?

Brad at the Everything Else Blog raises an interesting point about opposition to the Illiana Expressway Toll Road:

However he (Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels) still wants to build the 10 mile section from the Illinois and Indiana state line to I-65 as a privatized toll road. I still object to that. To be sure I think it should be a toll road, because money is tight for new roads but it should be built and managed by the state.

The public-private partnership controversy surrounding the Illiana Expressway Toll Road had been raised earlier by Dan at the Move On A Shut Up Blog:

(P)erhaps even more interesting, is that only a portion of the con position is about environmental and/or local concerns, rather it seems that there is a focus on being against privatized roads.

If the Illiana Expressway Toll Road was operated by the State, would that knock off the remaining opposition to the proposed new highway project?

Tech Tags: CAPIT Corridors+Of+The+Future Illiana Illiana+Expressway+Toll+Road Illiana+Legislation Indiana+Senate+Bill+1 Interstate Public+Private+Toll+Roads Road+Construction Transportation

Rep. Kuzman Favors Illiana, Reports NWI Times

Indiana State Rep. Bob Kuzman tells the Northwest Indiana Times he is in favor of the Illiana Expressway Toll Road in a story about Gov. Mitch Daniels dropping plans to extend the proposed Illiana east of Interstate 65.

State Rep. Bob Kuzman, D-Crown Point, said he believes the public should have been involved in the planning process from the beginning.

"I still believe the priority should be the South Shore to alleviate the traffic and it would be better for the environment," he said. "I support the Illiana, but I support letting the people help choose the route. I think the people spoke and the governor heard their input. From the beginning we should have utilized that approach and used a feasibility study to determine if (taking the proposed route east of I-65) was needed or not needed."

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Illiana Expressway Is A Federal Corridor Of The Future

While legislative support for building the Illiana Toll Road seems to be slipping after a meeting with opponents at the Porter County Fairgrounds, the Federal Government has selected the Illiana Expressway as one of 14 "Corridors Of The Future."

From The Times:

The 63-mile highway, which Gov. Mitch Daniels wants to build as a privately financed tollway, is one of two Indiana projects selected among 14 finalists for the federal Corridors of the Future Program. The U.S. Department of Transportation initiative aims to accelerate multistate projects geared toward alleviating highway congestion.

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