Northwest Indiana residents bash Illiana Expressway toll road proposal

DAN HINKEL, Times of Northwest Indiana

dhinkel@nwitimes.com

CROWN POINT | The Illiana Expressway proposal would be killed in its infancy if the speakers and residents at a Crown Point forum Wednesday were in charge.

Dave Alhberg, the leader of Citizens Against the Privatized Illiana Tollroad, encouraged about 200 people at the Lake County Fairgrounds to maintain their opposition, even though Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has withdrawn his support for the most controversial portion of the proposed road.

"We cannot relax," Alhberg said.

"We have to stay in this fight."

Speakers at the forum -- hosted by Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub and Michael Jordan and Julie Clark, all of whom oppose the proposed road -- said the Illiana would benefit Illinois at the expense of Indiana farmers and taxpayers. They decried governmental eminent domain powers. They voiced concern that the road would worsen urban sprawl.

West Creek Township Trustee/Assessor Rick Niemeyer called the proposed expressway a "road that's going to get people to move through our area as fast as they can without stopping."

Scheub floated his alternative: an extension of Chicago's Lake Shore Drive through Indiana. His proposal would improve Indiana's shoreline, bring highly paid jobs to Indiana and reduce taxes, he said.

"The downside for the Illiana is tremendous," he said.

"And the downside for the Lake Shore Drive? There is no downside."

Scheub doesn't believe the Illiana Expressway will ever be built, he said.

Don Babcock of the Northwest Indiana Forum business group came closer to supporting the Illiana proposal than any other speaker. He inspired grumbling and shouted interruptions with his suggestion -- on behalf of the Forum -- that the proposal is worth paying millions of dollars to study.

"We all have a stake in this," he said.

None of the invited legislators appeared at the forum.