As planning continues for the South Shore Line’s Double Track NWI project, attention soon will shift to Indianapolis as lawmakers and local officials attempt to craft a funding package that will cover the state and local share of the project.
The ongoing exercise is similar to the process that resulted in a funding package for the South Shore’s West Lake Corridor project. The funding package for that project includes a mix of funds from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, income taxes from Lake County local governments, and a 30-year, $180 million commitment from the state.
But a key and critical difference — in addition to the fact that Double Track NWI’s construction cost estimates are less than half West Lake’s $615 million — is that LaPorte County is directly involved in the Double Track project.
And LaPorte County is not a member of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, which is a financial and administrative key to the West Lake project’s funding formula. LaPorte declined to join the RDA a decade ago.
Double Track NWI’s construction cost is projected to be $265 million to $275 million. The federal government would be depended on to cover half that; the rest, and any long-term financing, would need to be handled locally.
“A number of us are getting together and looking at possibilities,” said state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, chairman of the House Transportation Committee. “We’ve talked about a number of possibilities.”
Last summer, as planning for Double Track NWI moved to a higher gear, the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority pitched in $1.6 million toward a $4 million engineering study. The North Central Indiana Regional Development Authority followed that with $800,000 from the Regional Cities Initiative grant it administers.
The Northwest Indiana RDA includes Lake and Porter counties; the North Central RDA includes Elkhart, Marshall and St. Joseph counties.
Between the two sits LaPorte County, where the double-tracking project would have one of its most visible impacts. It would include the long-discussed move of the train tracks from the middle of the street — on 10th Street moving them to the side of the road, and turning 11th Street into a one-way street — and it would include major station improvements at the main 11th Street station.
“The Legislature’s position has been that the locals have to have skin in the game,” Soliday said. “I’m sure my colleagues down there are going to say, OK, but what are the locals going to contribute?”
An RDA can participate in financing and guide planning around new railroad infrastructure. But while the Northwest Indiana RDA’s recently completed Comprehensive Strategic Plan includes a detailed analysis of Double Track NWI’s impact, it stops at the Porter-LaPorte county line.
“That’s really a key issue for us to solve,” Northwest Indiana RDA President and CEO Bill Hanna said recently. “Now’s a great time to talk to LaPorte County about a partnership.”
He said the increase in activity around a project can help, as it did with West Lake.
“It’s interesting when you get to this point in a project, when it starts to materialize,” Hanna said. People begin to wonder, “If we don’t do this, what cost would it have?”
After a short but sharp debate a decade ago, LaPorte County chose not to join the Northwest Indiana RDA. But local officials have expressed general support for double-tracking and the associated improvements.
The Michigan City Council recently approved resolutions confirming their relationship with the South Shore. And Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer said the project fits into the city’s plans, not only by improving its connection to Chicago, but also by enhancing its work revitalizing its downtown.
“From my perspective, that offers so much opportunity,” Meer said.
He said the city’s contribution to the project could come in the form of a commitment of tax increment financing revenue for work at the city’s train stations and for parking. The latter has tightened in recent years as activity downtown picks up.
“We’re pretty much at full occupancy,” Meer said. “We have parking issues we have to address.”
The southern boundary of the city’s northern TIF district runs along 11th Street from Huron Street — where the South Shore makes its transition from 10th Street to 11th — to Vail Street, just east of U.S. 35.
A downstate statement
Michigan City’s Meer said the opportunity to discuss the project in more detail with state elected officials will help guide the city in determining how it will participate.
“At this point, where I’m at, is going downstate to convince them how important this project is,” Meer said.
Soliday said officials at the local and state levels have “talked about a number of options.” That’s included talking about the RDA, including the possibility of allowing LaPorte County’s cities to join.
“We’re trying to think outside the box,” Soliday said. But, he noted, all or parts of the county joining the RDA wouldn’t answer the question of where the money would come from.
Meer said any consideration of joining the RDA would depend on the financial commitment required. “We only have so many resources locally,” he said.
And, Meer said the city has used its riverboat revenue — the source of the Northwest Indiana RDA’s revenue in Lake County — successfully as a match for federal dollars.
“We’ve been able to manage our riverboat dollars pretty well,” he said. “We’ve done pretty good on our own.”
Soliday has emphasized presenting a unified regional position, politically and financially. He said U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky did “an excellent job” gaining local support for West Lake.
“We’ve seen some pulling together,” Soliday said. “That makes a big statement downstate.”