MERRILLVILLE | A plan for transforming East Chicago's lakefront and nearby neighborhoods took a major step forward Thursday when the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority approved a $12.9 million grant for phase two of the $35 million East Chicago Gateway project.
The money will be used for upgrading the East Chicago Marina, improving gateway roads such as Dickey Avenue, and an improved overpass for connecting the North Harbor neighborhood to the lakefront.
"This money is a continuation of renovations we are doing to move forward on the lakefront in developing and continuing East Chicago's overall plan to improve the city and the gateway," said Ed Glover, the RDA board's East Chicago representative.
The RDA granted the Gateway project $17.5 million two years ago for demolishing more than 300 derelict properties and improving Jeorse Park and other lakefront areas. Some of that work is still underway. East Chicago has not yet applied for phase three funds for the Gateway.
In other action, the RDA board accepted for consideration a request for $6 million from the Town of Munster for realigning 45th Street to the south and taking it under the Canadian National railroad tracks. Trains on those tracks often snarl traffic where 45th joins Calumet Avenue before proceeding west.
RDA Chief Operating Officer Sherri Ziller said the project is an important precursor to the West Lake South Shore expansion, because Calumet Avenue will serve as a main route to both the station proposed for the Dyer/Munster line and the other off Ridge Road, in Munster.
The 45th Street project has an overall $34.6 million price tag and is just phase one of a larger project that would also build an underpass for Calumet Avenue where it now crosses the Canadian National tracks at grade-level. That intersection, where 45th and Calumet meet just 50 feet north of the railroad tracks, is considered one of the region's most congested.
The Town of Munster will be pitching $10 million into the phase one project. State and federal transportation funds are expected to pay for the rest.
The RDA board also on Thursday approved a $250,325 grant to help keep North Township's expanded dial-a-ride bus service running for two more years. That money will be the match for a $1.25 million federal grant, according to North Township Trustee Frank Mrvan.
Since expanding the dial-a-ride service three years ago, ridership has soared to a projected 51,000 riders this year from just 16,000 in 2012, Mrvan said.
North Township continues to cooperate with Gary Public Transportation Corp. by providing some paratransit services for the bus agency, Mrvan said. That cooperation and the North Township dial-a-ride expansions are steps on the way to forming a regional transit system, he said.
"It's an economic development tool because it moves people to businesses, medical facilities and gives people freedom and access to everything the community offers," Mrvan said.