By Jason Miller, The News-Dispatch
PORTAGE - The newly formed Northwest Indiana Intermodal Task Force isn't in the business of picking the community in which any new proposed freight facility should be located.
At a meeting at the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission office in Portage on Friday morning, members of the task force said they want to figure out what impact such a facility will have on the infrastructure in the communities in which it might locate.
If the facility is to locate near Union Mills, as has been long-rumored, the group realizes any developer will have a hard time convincing LaPorte County residents known for opposing the change that the site would bring.
"Everything with this has been private; it's all a secret," said NIRPC Senior Transportation Planner and task force member Jackie Anders. "But we're trying to look ahead and to do that we need all the facts.
"Without the facts, this has all been very emotional and while we all can be emotional, using emotions doesn't solve anything. This will be a tough one for anyone wanting to build an intermodal in LaPorte County."
Since it first came up more than a year ago in conjunction with possible membership in the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, the intermodal has been a lightning rod for controversy.
Developers have expressed interest in land near Union Mills and have purchased some options in the area. They also, however, have placed virtual gag orders on those involved in order to keep details quiet.
What has been rumored is that the facility - which could be a regional transportation hub for the many rail and over-the-road freight carriers that travel through the area each day - would create thousands of new jobs.
According to Anders, developers are also looking at expanding the Gibson Yards in Hammond into an intermodal site. She said Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott has shown interest in using the site.
"There are discussions going on everywhere about this and something needs to be done," she said. "If you care more about keeping a field for the birds to use than moving forward, you're going to get left behind quickly."
LaPorte Mayor Leigh Morris, who sits on the task force, said Friday that those who will be most affected by the facility should be listened to and their concerns should be heeded.
A longer-look forward, though, is required, as well.
"Any time you have something like this it's going to be disruptive to some element of the population and we need to listen to that element and minimize the disruption," he said. "But our final responsibility is to see the greatest good for the greatest number of people or we'll just continue the same pattern we've seen for years where good jobs and economic development go somewhere else."
While increased traffic and lost farmland are of concern to local residents, the overall cohesion of one of the world's busiest transportation areas is what worries the task force.
According to SouthShore Freight President Henry Lampe, local highways and rail lines become more crowded every day as routes into and out of Chicago become saturated with box cars and tractor-trailers.
He said new projects like an intermodal or the rumored Illiana Expressway would go a long way in alleviating some of the backups.
"Chicago has everything to do with Northwest Indiana (in this respect)," Lampe said. "Trains take 50 hours to get from (Los Angeles) to Chicago and another 50 hours just to get out of Chicago."
Earl Wacker, transportation director of CSX Corp. Inc.'s Chicago office, agreed.
"All the trains going into Chicago are backed up, waiting in Northwest Indiana," he said. "Chicago affects Northwest Indiana."
Currently, NIRPC and the task force are developing a freight study in which Anders is gathering information on freight traffic patterns and on other intermodal-type facilities throughout the Midwest.
"This is all just a first try," she said. "What we need to do with this is find out how everything works together. All we ask is that everyone involved keep us abreast of what's going on."