Voice of the People

I attended the CAPIT legislative open house at the Expo Center on March 10th, hoping to get some information on the facts surrounding the proposed Illiana Tollway. What I got was emotional rhetoric, rumors, and speculation. Some examples:

1.) Although I saw a map of the general location of the proposed road, I was told that a specific route has already been chosen, along “the high tension lines” somewhere in south Porter County. When I questioned this person, he stated that he had been to five previous CAPIT meetings, and was sure of this.

2.) One of the speakers stated that, according to his analysis, a truck making a single one-way trip on the 63-mile road would be charged a toll of $75.

3.) Another speaker stated that most of the county roads intersecting the proposed road would “dead end”, because there are few, if any, over- and underpasses planned for this project.

One of the major points of opposition to the Illiana Tollway is that there have been no feasibility studies performed, and that none are scheduled. My experience suggested to me that CAPIT and several other supporting groups have already done studies that uncovered the above “facts”. If this is the case, why haven’t they been released to the general public? Publishing them in papers such as the Chesterton Tribune would benefit those of us who can’t (or wish not to) travel to distant points to attend CAPIT meetings. If the leaders of this group want to get the apathetic majority on their side, perhaps they can release factual studies and documents, and not rely on rumors, speculation, and fear-mongering

Sincerely,

George Mrak

Posted 3/13/2007