Voice of the People

In previous letters we were given very differing opinions on what expansion of the South Shore Railway may mean to north Porter County residents. I would like to add a couple more items for your consideration.

When reaching Chicago, the South Shore is given limited usage of Metra track. Unless Metra gives up more track time to the South Shore, then South Shore expansion to Valparaiso and south Lake County will likely result in reallocation of track usage from the east to provide for the new south county routes. This will likely result in fewer trains from north Porter County and South Bend to make room on the tracks for the new south county trains. Until the question of additional capacity is answered, talk of spending nearly a billion dollars is premature and ill conceived.

If we truly want to increase the impact of mass transit on north Porter County communities, then perhaps a shorter commute time would make us more attractive to business and visitors. The one hour and twenty minutes it takes to reach downtown Chicago from Chesterton on the South Shore can be tedious.

Will the residents of the Duneland communities and other north Porter County residents benefit by expansion of the South Shore to the south? I am not convinced.

We need to consider the total picture before supporting a new tax for rail expansion to the south. The amount of tax money raised might be better used to entice new business to our own communities.

Charlotte Kroft

Chesterton

Posted 12/6/2007