The Indiana Law Blog has a good entry discussing SB 1-2007 dealing with the Illiana Expressway and the Commerce Connector proposed by Governor Daniels.
The opening paragraph:
The ILB tries always to remain nonpartisan, but coming from Chesterton in Porter County, the farms of many of my friends are directly in the path of the Governor’s recently unveiled plan to take by eminent domain a long swath of prime farmland from Lake through Porter through LaPorte counties in NW Indiana, to be used by a consortium of private investors to build a toll road to divert truck trafffic through the rural southern part of those counties. The Illiana Expressway would be privately build and operated, with some of the profits going to the State, which by a number of reports would use the toll money to assure that tolls need never be charged on the south leg of I-69. The Commerce Connector to be built around Indianapolis follows the same plan.
I thought using eminent domain to benefit private businesses was political kryptonite these days.
[tags]SB1-2007, privatization, Kelo[/tags]
The question becomes, is reducing the traffic on existing roads enough of a public benefit?
I think it is. Others don’t.
Has there ever been a map printed of this proposed expressway?
I just moved to Lafayette from Da Region, where they have been talking about an Illiana expressway connecting I-65 and I-57 at first, then extending to I-94 in LaPorte County. This talk has been going on for at least fifteen years, maybe 20.
While there have been maps printed, the Illiana Expressway is moving inexorably southward ahead of the Chicago metroplex. It would run 2-5 miles north of Indiana 2 in Lake County, curve northeast through Porter County south of Valparaiso and connect with the Toll Road near LaPorte.
One major concern about the Illiana expressway would be a tendency to push the sprawl further south, decreasing investment along US 30. The communities along US 30 would have a vested interest in opposing the expressway.
For some reason, Indiana 2 and US 24 are far more crowded west of I-65 than east of it.
As a common traveler between the two states, I’ve got a bit of a problem with this. Anyone who has traveled the present corridors knows of the phenomenon within 1 mile of the state borders: going west, travel time increases almost exponentially – while going east, traffic frees up and travel time decreases. It is interesting no one is suggesting a different way of adressing this problem. If it is much of the commuter traffic that binds up the area, basically in the Lake Counties of both Indiana and Illinois, why not a push for greater mass transit to help alleviate some of the congestion? Travelers know the rush hour times, coming in and going out of the Chicago area. We all know “uh oh…better get on the road before 2:30 if we’re going TO Chicago, or we’ll be late for our 5 o’clock” and vice versa. That approximately four hour window, twice a day means largely commuter traffic. So, it would seem logical to attempt to address that first, instead of using the ever popular emminent domain rule as a lead tool to create yet another expressway.
And at a time when gas prices are up, environment issues are mounting and commuters could save money by the states investing in more commuter trains and buses, it would seem like an election ‘gimme’. Personally, I always take the Tri-State Limo when picking anyone up at the airports in Chicago: less time, less money, less stress. Investing in more public transportation and expansion/upgrading of existing rails also resembles common sense.
But we know that common sense has no business in planning or big money at times. I guess it would also explain why Daniels is looking to ‘bypass’ some of the regulations himself by having private conglomerates take charge of the project. Different rules for the private sector means less ‘mess’ for his office. And, he can always deny his actions later should things go awry.
So, should this go through, in the name of progress, I’d like to put to question some other ideas:
An odd and intriguing part of this proposal is that even in the early phase of this talk, when the proposal maps were made, that Hwy 421 was not considered as the northern route. An expansion, or widening, of Hwy 421 would allow for increased traffic; affecting far less businesses and homes than the present route. There exists, for much of that route, approximately 15-20′ wide ditches and easements already on either side that could be easily be used to add additional lanes.
Looking at historical or ecological items: At the intersection of Hwys 2 and Wozniak Road, where the proposed route turns due north, lies a landmark on the National Registry…a couple of miles north of that lies part of the Dunes National Lakeshore, called Pinhook Bog – one of two ecological wonders of its kind in the world. Wozniak Road is also much more built up than it was 20 years ago when the original plans were concieved (although again, why 421 was not considered THEN is odd). The project looks to affect hundreds of homes rather than a couple dozen (which most would not be affected by the widening of 421).
If it is a toll road to be built and much controversy is going to arise, then why not terminate the toll road portion near the intersection of Hwy’s 30 and 421; and then again, simply add two lanes to the existing Hwy 421 up to the point of intersection with I-94?
Just some thoughts. I apologize if I offend anyone by my grumpiness…haven’t had coffee yet.