BY PATRICK GUINANE, Times of Northwest Indiana
pguinane@nwitimes.com
INDIANAPOLIS | State Sen. Vic Heinold, R-Kouts, wants the state to consider a longer Illiana Expressway that would be less intrusive to Porter County while steering commerce toward Starke County.
Heinold shared his vision with reporters Monday, ahead of today's initial vote on legislation that would allow Gov. Mitch Daniels to recruit private builders for the Illiana Expressway and a second tollway in central Indiana.
"I'm drafting a letter to the governor asking that he instruct the (Indiana) Department of Transportation to look at what I think is a more logical route, which would put the least impact on residents and probably have the most economic impact on my (Senate) district," Heinold said.
No exact route exists, but the state's conceptual map shows the highway curving northward along the southeastern edge of Valparaiso. Heinold said he would like to flatten out the route so that it touches only Porter County's southernmost townships -- Boone and Pleasant -- and then grazes northwest Starke County before curving north to end east of LaPorte.
"We've got Morgan Township (in Porter County) that's grown up," Heinold said. "We've got Porter Township, even north of Boone township that's all grown up. Bringing that corridor to Starke County could probably be the biggest economic impact that county has seen ever."
It's not clear how many miles Heinold's concept would add to the Illiana Expressway. As proposed by Daniels, the highway would span 63 miles, starting at Interstate 57 in Illinois, running east to Interstate 65 and then curving northward to connect with Interstate 94 near Michigan City.
The Senate Transportation Committee plans to vote today on Senate Bill 1, which would give Daniels permission to build the Illiana Expressway, along with the proposed Indiana Commerce Connector outside Indianapolis.
State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, today will propose the creation of a legislative oversight panel to advise the governor at various steps along the road-building process.
"What my amendment does is to provide a mechanism to keep us involved and informed throughout the entire process," Rogers said. Her plan would require that legislators from Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties be included on the oversight panel.
If the Transportation Committee approves SB 1 today, it will go the Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee for further review.
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