South Shore extension could go one leg at a time

BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com

Building only one branch of the South Shore extension, either to Valparaiso or Lowell, may be the best way to win initial federal backing for the project, Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District officials say.

The South Shore's operator and its consultant are crunching numbers on a plan to build only one branch of the commuter rail extension in order to save money and meet federal guidelines, NICTD Marketing Director John Parsons said.

"Getting one leg going may be the best chance we have of eventually getting both," Parsons said recently when asked about progress on the extension's $3 million feasibility study.

NICTD wants the Federal Transit Administration to fund half of the project's estimated $1 billion cost under its highly competitive New Starts program.

The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority would be asked to fund $150 million. Proposals for a number of local taxes have been bandied about to pay the rest of the cost.

Doing just one leg would cut those costs significantly.

The South Shore West Lake Corridor Extension would entail the building of a 26.6 mile line to Valparaiso and a 19-mile line to Lowell.

Parsons emphasized no decision has been made about which leg to build first. Parsons also said one leg could be built while funding for the other leg is being sought.

Winning local support for building a line to either Lowell or Valparaiso first is sure to become a political issue.

But a key South Shore extension supporter said he is open to the idea if that's what it takes to get it started.

"Clearly, if they can construct even one leg of it, it increases the chances of the entire thing happening," said Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas.

However, Costas said he would much prefer building both legs as one project. If not, he said he would advocate building the line to Valparaiso first, citing his community's preparations for the service.

That includes the new ChicaGo DASH express bus service between Valparaiso and the Loop, which will test the market for the South Shore extension, Costas said.

The extension has been the subject of a three-year ongoing feasibility study by NICTD consultant STV Group.

Local communities put up $1.5 million to fund the study, and the federal government put up $1.5 million more. Parsons said some results from the study will be delivered to communities by late fall or early winter. Towns and cities first committed money to the study four years ago.

So far, results of that study have shown that under federal guidelines, the travel time saved by riders of the extension would not justify the cost, Parsons said.