Photo: By Bob Wellinski – Signs such as this, opposing both the Illiana tollway and an intermodal, have popped up in numerous La Porte County yards.

Logistics summit, proposed tollway meeting, dinners with intermodal investors all scheduled for next week in Indy

LA PORTE -- Indianapolis is shaping up as the place to be next week for all things intermodal related. Not only is a logistics summit scheduled in the Circle City, but so is a meeting of the Illiana Expressway Proposal Review Committee and several private dinners hosted by possible intermodal investors.

The sudden re-emergence of the proposed Illiana Expressway at the same time that intermodal talks are beginning to heat up appears to be only a coincidence, however, even though many residents believe the two projects are connected.

Although a legislative committee that includes several northwest Indiana lawmakers will meet Tuesday at the Statehouse at 9 a.m. La Porte County time to discuss the proposed expressway, lawmakers insist the impact of such a project on La Porte County will be negligible.

"The initial proposal was dropped," committee Chairperson Sen. Sue Landske, R-Cedar Lake, told The La Porte County Herald-Argus Tuesday. "This meeting is just so we can get some very basic information."

The initial proposal for the tollway, which would link I-94 in northwest Indiana with I-57 in Illinois, had the highway running down the southern border of La Porte County from I-94 before turning west toward Illinois, leading many to believe it would serve an important transportation function for any possible intermodal in the county. Because of a lack of public consensus, however, Gov. Mitch Daniels withdrew most of the proposal in March, asking lawmakers to concentrate for the time being only on the portion of the roadway between I-65 and the Illinois border.

Landske confirmed Tuesday that the seven committee members would focus only on the 10-mile section identified by Daniels. She said they would discuss possible feasibility studies that could be conducted by either the Indiana or Illinois departments of transportation.

Landske said the possibility of any part of the expressway running through La Porte County is unlikely now unless the state gets involved.

"I don't see that happening," she said. "They would need legislative action for that to happen."

Taking no chances

Still, elected officials in La Porte County aren't taking any chances. Informed Tuesday of the upcoming review board meeting, La Porte County Commission President Barbara Huston, Commissioner Bill Hager and La Porte County Council President Jerry Cooley agreed on the need to attend.

Huston, Hager and Cooley also agreed on the need to attend the intermodal logistics summit on Tuesday and Wednesday in Indianapolis. Sponsored by the Port of Indiana, the summit will be attended by several transportation industry bigwigs, including representatives from CSX Intermodal.

In addition to the summit, Huston, Hager, Cooley and other county officials have been invited to attend dinners in downtown Indianapolis next week hosted by possible intermodal investors, Cooley said.

Of the decision to attend such dinners, Cooley said, "It is important to get true information on what is going on in northwest Indiana. If we aren't there, who is going to get the information?"

The logistics summit is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at the Indianapolis Marriott in downtown Indianapolis. For more information, visit online at www.indianalogistics.com.

Copyright (c) 2007 The Herald Argus Publishing Co., L.L.C., All Rights Reserved.