By PAULENE POPARAD

Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission officials said Thursday that misinformation is clouding their intent when it comes to the controversial Illiana Expressway.

“Our (position) has been consistent all along the line,” said NIRPC chairman LaPorte Mayor Leigh Morris. “Nowhere in that position do we say build the expressway. We don’t say support Senate Bill 1 as written.”

NIRPC Executive Board member Porter County Commissioner Robert Harper said the public needs to know the planning agency doesn’t back SB 1, which he said is a green light for the Illiana.

Backed by Gov. Mitch Daniels, the bill would permit its designation as a tollway without legislative authorization enabling the 63-mile expressway to be built and operated by private investors.

In a legislative agenda adopted by its Full Commission in December, NIRPC endorsed support for a feasibility study only of the 63-mile Illiana that would link Illinois and Hoosier interstate highway systems and take pressure off the congested Interstate 94 Borman Expressway.

Although no preferred route has ever been identified, a potential Illiana map cuts through southern portions of Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties prompting opposition from many farmers and landowners there; about 1,000 people packed the Porter County Expo Center last Saturday at an anti-Illiana forum.

Supporters of the project say it will create thousands of construction jobs and promote needed economic development as a private/public venture.

“Everything is focused on that damnable map,” said Morris after Thursday’s meeting. At this stage the project is dealing in concepts only, he emphasized, however, NIRPC also supports critical corridor protection legistion at this time to preserve land that may be needed for the Illiana, Morris added.

He noted that where the expressway would be built and how it would be financed are decisions to be made at the end of the planning process, which Morris said could take seven years.

Lake County Council member Will Smith Jr. said NIRPC needs to have its Full Commission clarify its position and a subsequent motion to do so passed. But the 51-member Full Commission won’t meet until mid-April; the General Assemby adjourns April 29.

Morris said NIRPC executive director John Swanson has issued a position statement for the agency regarding the Illiana, and that NIRPC will be “working every way we can to clarify our position” in the coming weeks.

The Illiana discussion was prompted by comments from Sandy O’Brien of the Dunelands chapter of the Sierra Club. She said the region needs a public policy of intensive, sustainable redevelopment and reinvestment in the existing cities rathern than building highways that encourage sprawl.

Lake County Commissioners vice-president Gerry Scheub suggested extending Chicago’s Outer Drive through Lake County to the Port of Indiana in Portage rather than building the Illiana. He also recommended implementation of U.S. Rep. Peter Visclosky’s Marquette Plan as an outstanding opportunity to ensure the future and quality of life for Lake County residents.

The Marquette Plan would jump-start development and redevelopment of parcels and brownfields near the Lake Michigan shoreline bringing jobs and recreational opportunities.

Scheub said the Marquette Plan would make Lake County a showplace while the Illiana, versions of which have been discussed for 20 years, might bring truck stops and car washes and destroy farmland that could be used to produce ethanol.

“I think (the Marquette Plan) should be a priority above anything else for Lake County,” said Scheub. “Why haven’t we done this? There are problems with the Illiana where it will be located.”

Morris said an Outer Drive extension could be an alternative to the Illiana but also it could stand on its own merits. NIRPC’s Transporta-tion Policy Committee will consider Scheub’s proposal. Porter County Surveyor Kevin Breitzke said Phase 1 of the Marquette Plan includes Portage, which has announced its first project, while Phase 2 would continue east to LaPorte County.

In other business, the Executive Board authorized modification of a procurement contract for the city of Valparaiso so it can kick off operation of its new public bus system in August rather than in October. Mayor Jon Costas said the city wants the system to be available when Valparaiso University students arrive for the fall semester.

Posted 3/16/207