BY BOB KASARDA, Times of Northwest Indiana
bkasarda@nwitimes.com
Porter County Commissioner Bob Harper said he is disappointed that no state lawmaker from the area seems to be representing the widespread opposition in southern Porter County to the proposed Illiana Expressway project.
He said this is especially true of his fellow Democrats, who he said campaigned heavily last year in opposition to these public-private arrangements being promoted by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.
"They flipped, and I'll say that as a Democrat," said Harper, who lists himself among the opponents of the Porter County stretch of the expressway. "It disgusts me."
State officials have said a definite route for the proposed expressway has not yet been determined, but an initial drawing shows it cutting across the southern portions of Lake and Porter counties from Interstate 57 in Illinois and then arching to the north through LaPorte County to connect with Interstate 94.
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, said in a statement issued Friday that her philosophy on the issue has not changed, but her approach has.
Rather than being locked out of the process as an opponent, as had occurred last year when the Indiana Toll Road was leased to a private, foreign venture, Tallian voiced confidence she has found a way to keep an active seat at the table.
Tallian said she told the governor she would support a study of the project if there was legislative oversight. He acquiesced, and an oversight committee made up of lawmakers from both parties from Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties now is part of the bill that cleared the Senate last week and is on its way to an uncertain fate in the House.
Daniels, however, retains the ultimate decision-making power on the issue.
"I support a study," Tallian said. "We, as a region, need to assess whether we want or need such an expressway, where it should go, how far it should go, whether it should be a tollway and whether we are willing to privatize in order to build."
State Sen. Vic Heinold, R-Kouts, who represents a large number of the property owners opposed to the Porter County stretch of the expressway, said he would like to have seen more powers given to the oversight committee, but feels it will be effective nonetheless.
He said the route through Porter County is not written in stone and he believes his alternative of moving it farther south and east stands a good chance. His proposal would move the expressway south of Ind. 8 and east to Ind. 35 in Starke County and north along the east side of LaPorte County.
Like Tallian, Heinold said he does not want to be blocked out of the planning process based on early opposition. The goal, he said, is to determine if the expressway is needed and if so, along what route.
Harper, who works as an attorney, down played the importance of the oversight committee, comparing it to bargaining agreements that assure criminal defendants rights they already have.
"They could do that without passing that in a bill," he said of the oversight granted to lawmakers. "That's not a concession."
"I just don't get it," Harper said. "I really don't get it."
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