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Porter County Commissioners Bob Harper and Carole Knoblock expressed their opposition to the proposed toll road Gov. Mitch Daniels introduced to the region in December.
The commissioners passed a formal resolution maintaining the toll road would create the loss of hundreds of acres in southern Porter County, ruin the rural atmosphere of the region and hinder the quality of life.
BY HEATHER AUGUSTYN, Times of Northwest Indiana Correspondent
VALPARAISO | The sign mounted on a parked pickup truck outside the entrance to the Porter County Expo Center on Tuesday night said it all.
"Governor Daniels: Don't Sell Us Out! NO ILLIANA TOLL ROAD!" read the sign.
Inside, about 500 people packed the center as staff scrambled to get additional seating. Residents signed petitions, bought yard signs and signed up to work for Citizens Against the Privatized Illiana Tollroad, a group created to oppose the proposed Illiana Expressway. The proposed expressway would go through Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties in Indiana.
"That proposed plan goes right through my property. We bought it six years ago, and we don't want to see our country life gone," said James Strehler, who came from Hebron with his wife, Margaret.
Porter County Commissioners Bob Harper and Carole Knoblock expressed their opposition to the proposed toll road Gov. Mitch Daniels introduced to the region in December.
The commissioners passed a formal resolution maintaining the toll road would create the loss of hundreds of acres in southern Porter County.
"We came to the first CAPIT meeting and are totally against this plan, so we will continue to come to these meetings to show our support for CAPIT," Harper said.
Senate Bill 1, the Illiana legislation, already has passed through the Senate and is poised for a House vote, although that vote is not yet scheduled and may be introduced at any time. That is prompting the group to organize a possible rapid trip to Indianapolis.
Some members of the group said they thought the bill only encouraged study of the tollway, but CAPIT board member Vicki Urbanik explained otherwise.
CAPIT President Dave Ahlberg said he believes the group's strength can bring a win for the region.
"We're working hard to dispel the misconception in Indianapolis that all of Northwest Indiana is for this project. That's obviously not true," Ahlberg said.
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