With the official comment period over a proposed 278-mile freight rail line set to expire Friday, some who are against the plan are offering alternative routes.
The $8 billion line, proposed by Great Lakes Basin Transportation, would run from Milton, Wis., into LaPorte County, cutting through southern Lake and Porter counties.
A growing number of people, including Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-Crown Point, are offering other routes, and the Porter County Board of Commissioners is expected to consider one as well, offered by the opposition group Residents Against the Invasion of Land by Eminent Domain, at its meeting Tuesday.
The federal Surface Transportation Board, which held meetings on the 278-mile proposal in the spring and is compiling comments and letters for an environmental impact statement, has set an Aug. 29 deadline for GLBT to provide suggestions of its own.
"There is no explanation in the information GLBT has provided to date to explain whether GLBT considered other potential alignments and variations and why they might have been rejected," Victoria Ruston, director of the Office of Environmental Analysis, wrote in a July 5 letter to one of GLBT's attorneys.
The agency has received more than 3,500 comments so far, Ruston wrote. She has said the proposal has generated a greater response than any she's seen in her 30 years with the agency.
"Commenters raise many concerns about environmental impacts that could occur if the proposed route were to be approved by the board. In addition, commenters suggest other alternative alignments that they say should be examined as part of the board's environmental review," Ruston wrote. "According to the commenters, these alternative alignments could minimize some of the potential environmental impacts of GLBT's proposed rail line construction."
GLBT's proposal would be the largest new rail line in recent times and is meant to provide a bypass for Chicago's congested rail yard and take trucks off the road.
Two of the six Class I railroads expected to be served by the freight line have publicly stated they will not participate; the remaining four appear uncommitted.
GLBT will do its best to meet the deadline for offering alternative routes to the STB, said Mike Blaszak, one of GLBT's attorneys.
"We are going to proceed to answer the board's questions. We are going to meet with our engineers and address the comments," he said. "We are embarking on a job of which we don't yet know the dimensions."
Commenters on the STB website may have some excellent suggestions, Blaszak said, and GLBT is going to take them into consideration for a route that will stand up to review.
GLBT also will address the federal agency's concern that a few minor route variations are mentioned in a document submitted to the STB in March, "but the variations are then dismissed for reasons only briefly outlined in the narrative," according to Ruston's letter.
"Our intention with this rail project was to locate away from populated areas. We want to avoid impact to where people live and we want to locate away from environmental sensitive areas as much as possible," Blaszak said. "Is the route fixed from our standpoint? No."
Alternate routes must be considered because the current route is too close to schools and other amenities like Buckley Homestead in south Lake County, Scheub said.
He presented an alternate route earlier that does not affect Lake or Porter counties whatsoever and would take the train south to Indiana 24 using existing tracks to go east before coming back up into LaPorte County.
A second alternate would place the rail line between Indiana 10 through Roselawn and north Jasper County, and Fair Oaks Farm near Indiana 14. There is an east-west stretch nearly 3 miles deep that does not pass by homes or schools, Scheub said.
"There is nothing all the way across but empty field. The route in there wouldn't affect anybody's quality of life," he said.
Meanwhile officials continue to codify their opposition. Lake County Council members Tuesday plan to join the county's board of commissioners and a long list of other government entities locally and across three states in opposing GLBT's plans for the rail line. Councilman Eldon Strong, R-Crown Point, will seek approval of the resolution opposing the rail line in Lake County. The measure is expected to pass.
Representatives from RAILED declined to discuss their suggested alternatives before Tuesday's meeting with Porter County commissioners. Bob Cauffman with the group will be making the presentation on the route, which he developed.
"Though we do not want to push this railroad on anyone else, RAILED is hoping the commissioners agree that this is a better route and vote to support this alternative," said Kathleen Honl, one of RAILED's organizers.
Post-Tribune freelance reporter Carrie Napoleon contributed.