By Rick A. Richards, The News-Dispatch
No one knows exactly where the Illiana Expressway will go or even if it will ever be built, but one thing is for certain - if it does become a reality, it's going to play a huge role in economic development in LaPorte County.
The Illiana Expressway idea has been around for more than three decades, and was originally supposed to connect Interstate 57 in Illinois with Interstate 65 in Lake County, a route that would run south of Crown Point and serve as an alternative to the jammed Borman Expressway in northern Lake County.
But now the Illiana Expressway has taken on a new life and a new purpose - a route that would extend 75 miles across southern Lake and Porter counties and into LaPorte County, eventually curving north parallel to U.S. 421 and connecting to Interstate 94 just south of Michigan City.
Before a route is determined, however, a study that could cost anywhere from $5 million to $10 million and take two years to complete, must be completed. Paying for that study is being debated by the General Assembly.
Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels wants to build the highway through a public-private partnership and operate it as a private toll road. While a study to find the best route for the expressway has been approved by the Indiana Senate Transportation Committee, it still must pass the full Senate and the House of Representatives this session.
LaPorte Mayor Leigh Morris, a Republican, supports the idea and wants it extended farther east to wrap around LaPorte. "I can think of no other single endeavor that has greater potential for enhancing the economy and quality of life for all of Northwest Indiana than the development of the Illiana Expressway," said Morris.
"For more than 30 years there has been discussion about a new limited-access highway in Northwest Indiana," he said. "During that period, thinking has evolved, interest has peaked and ebbed, but very little has happened other than identifying it as the Illiana Expressway."
Like his LaPorte counterpart, Democratic Michigan City Mayor Chuck Oberlie sees huge opportunity in the Illiana Expressway. He said it would lure jobs and economic development to the county and would help ease traffic congestion on I-94. But it also could hurt Michigan City.
"I understand the need for Illiana at least up to I-65, because that is already a very congested area," Oberlie said. But extending it across Porter and LaPorte counties is where the debate begins, he said, especially since he's not sure traffic volumes on I-94 in this area justify it.
"If you build a road for economic growth, my question is at whose expense? We have made suburbs more desirable than cities, and meanwhile our cities are suffering from disinvestment," Oberlie said.
"The idea of moving businesses and industries out of the cities to give them convenient road access ... I have issues with that, but I support the concept of a feasibility study 20 years out and what that means."
If it serves the new "intermodal" center being discussed for the LaPorte area - a truck and rail transfer center - then it might make sense for LaPorte County, Oberlie said.
And Oberlie agrees that a widened U.S. 421 might serve as a better alternative than a new route making the north-south link in the Illiana Expressway.
Both the Northwest Indiana Forum, a private economic development organization, and the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission have endorsed the idea, citing job creation as the main reason.
Dave Hawk contributed to this story.