INDIANAPOLIS | Supporters pulled out all the stops to sell Denver-area voters on a sales tax hike to fund a $4.7 billion bus and rail service expansion.
And the campaign behind it now serves as a blueprint for the push to extend South Shore commuter rail service to Lowell and Valparaiso.
Proponents of the Denver plan hired a top-notch consulting firm, won endorsements from business leaders and mayors and poured more than $3 million into an 18-month campaign.
It paid off. The 2004 ballot initiative known as FasTracks won voter approval by a comfortable margin.
"We are doing exactly what Denver has done," said Karen Lauerman, spokeswoman for Chicago South Shore Connections, a group formed this month to promote the $1 billion South Shore project.
The West Lake Corridor expansion, which would bring commuter rail to Cedar Lake, Dyer, Highland, Hobart, Griffith, Merrillville, Munster, Lowell, St. John and Valparaiso, needs about $350 million in local funding -- or roughly $30 million a year from Lake and Porter County taxpayers.
While Denver's FasTracks project went straight to voters with a 4-cent sales tax hike, the plan to boost rail service in Northwest Indiana must secure funding approval from state legislators.
Chicago South Shore Connections -- formed by the
Northwest Indiana Forum,
Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission and the
Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District -- is making the rounds at local city and town councils, providing information on the benefits of rail expansion and asking municipal leaders to adopt resolutions endorsing the project.
"I think, absolutely, it's the right way to go," said state Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary. "When you build that kind of support within a particular community, it makes it easier for those of us who have to vote on a funding mechanism to go ahead and vote for it based on the fact that our constituents know about the project and are in support."
Region lawmakers have yet to settle on a funding source to submit when the General Assembly reconvenes in January. A $50 annual vehicle registration fee was proposed last spring, but supporters now say all options are on the table, including a regional fuel tax of a few pennies or county income taxes.
"I think the door ought to stay open to what our options are there," said state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso. "I think the key is if you can get agreement between the Northwest Indiana delegation."
What happened: Real estate developers told a legislative panel studying mass transit that new commuter rail stations can help spur high-density commercial and residential projects that attract both employers and young professionals seeking a more urbanized place to live. One developer touted a successful Denver-area transit initiative region officials seek to emulate in their push to extend South Shore service to Lowell and Valparaiso.