Keith Benman, Times of Northwest Indiana
keith.benman@nwi.com
The estimated cost of building a South Shore commuter rail extension to Lowell has leapt upward by $186.8 million -- a 34 percent increase -- since a report was delivered to key legislative leaders last fall.
The most recent preliminary projections place a total price tag of $737.8 million on the Lowell extension, according to Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District officials. The increase, from an earlier $551 million estimate, is tied to inflationary adjustments and project additions, including a proposed overpass at the EJ&E tracks and U.S. 30.
On Monday, NICTD Planning and Marketing Manager John Parsons cautioned the cost figure still is preliminary. It is contained in a feasibility study being prepared by South Shore consultant STV Transportation.
Parsons said the commuter railroad and STV are working together to find ways to bring down the overall cost.
"We are committed to getting this thing to Lowell," Parsons said. "We want to keep that front and center."
Voters in Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph counties will go to the polls Nov. 3 to decide whether to form a regional transportation district, as the Indiana General Assembly authorized last month. If the referendum prevails, it would create a new seven-member transit district board with the power to impose a local income tax of up to 0.25 percent to pay for mass transit improvements, including the Lowell leg and a second planned extension to Valparaiso.
The proposed transit district, income tax and the improvements it would finance already are stirring up controversy. Porter County Commissioner Bob Harper, a prime critic, said it has been like this since the beginning with the four-year-old feasibility study.
"If the cost is $700 million today, it will be $1 billion tomorrow," Harper said.
Harper contends even the 0.25 percent income tax will not be enough to pay for all the mass transit improvements flying under the transit district banner. He said the tax is sure to go up in future years.
"Those that want this the worst are only saying it may work," Harper said. "That they are only saying it may work is pretty scary in itself."
U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., said Monday the new preliminary cost figures for the Lowell extension should not be allowed to take the focus off creating a regional transportation district. He said he is confident the Lowell route will qualify for a 50 percent federal funding match when it comes time to build.
"My point is this is a jobs issue," Visclosky said. "It's about the future of Northwest Indiana -- whether we will remain a static community living in the past or whether we will move forward."
Although the vote on the regional transportation district is only a little more than three months away, most local transportation and economic development organizations have not committed yet to supporting it.
On Monday, Northwest Indiana Forum CEO Vince Galbiati said his organization wholeheartedly supports mass transit improvements but still is considering what role it might play in the run-up to the referendum. Last year, the Forum took the lead in an aggressive public relations campaign promoting the extension.
In a column in Sunday's Times, NICTD General Manager Gerald Hanas wrote that the regional transportation district would "chart a new course" for public transportation. He said it would provide a steady revenue stream for improvements like the Lowell extension and a Michigan City reroute.
In addition to the proposed flyover at the EJ&E tracks and U.S. 30, STV's most recent cost projections added other projects to the Lowell extension, Parsons said. The additions include more parking to accommodate higher ridership projections, more rail cars and a light maintenance facility in Lowell.
NICTD informed legislators on the Commission on State Tax and Financing Policy last fall that cost projections for the South Shore extension had yet to be updated, Parsons said.
Hanas told the committee the railroad was getting ready to apply for federal funds for preliminary engineering work on the Lowell extension. He said it appeared the 19-mile line would meet federal cost-effectiveness standards and offer the best hope of getting the extension started.
He also told the committee a proposed Munster-to-Valparaiso line did not meet federal cost standards, so another route would be studied.