By Gitte Laasby, Post-Tribune staff writer
HAMMOND -- U.S. Rep. Peter J. Visclosky's lined up a slew of facts and figures to back up his biggest argument for expanding the South Shore railroad Wednesday night: jobs.
The project would create new jobs, give local residents access to higher-paying jobs in Chicago and diversify Northwest Indiana's economy while keeping young people here, Visclosky told about 100 attendees at a public meeting in Hammond on Wednesday night.
"How many mills would we have to build to create that many steel mill jobs in the area?" Visclosky said, referring to the 26,000 jobs an analytical firm estimated would be generated.
Jobs in Cook County, Ill., pay about 39 percent more than those in Lake and Porter counties, he said.
Visclosky also pointed out that the expansion would reduce pollution from cars, and that the $500 million in federal matching funds is partly paid by Northwest Indiana taxpayers and would otherwise go to other projects.
He said the timeline for the project would be about four years; 15 to 18 months for preliminary engineering, three months for federal review, a year for final engineering, and construction beginning three months later.
The congressman also answered some critical questions from the audience.
When asked, Visclosky admitted that some issues have yet to be worked out, including how to improve conditions at a bottleneck at the Kensington station.
Crown Point resident Chuck Barman expressed concerns about the cost of matching funds to taxpayers. He also questioned how sprawl would impact infrastructure needs and what would happen to redevelopment at existing communities.
"What you don't understand is, I have to make $1.50 to give you that dollar" to match, Barman told Visclosky. "I think this is very unfair to Gary, East Chicago and Hammond. Once you take the jobs south, those communities will never be rebuilt. Instead of going to this boondoggle ... You're not even sure anybody's going to ride this thing."
Visclosky said he and other legislators will work for more funds for the existing rail line, but that it's a "different pot of money."
Kevin Cornett suggested using money from the Toll Road lease to pay the match.
"All this rush to get sales tax or wheels tax. We have all this money sitting in the bank," he said. "I haven't heard that discussed."