CROWN POINT -- Local officials view the new Interstate 65 interchange leading directly into the city as a fast track to development.
The first I-65 interchange in Lake County since the interstate opened in the mid 1960s, the 109th Avenue exit opens today after a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony.
It will funnel traffic onto Broadway and directly along 109th, also known as North Street in the city limits.
"In my opinion it's going to be the main corridor into the city," Mayor David Uran said. "It's the quickest route to downtown. It will provide a new passageway when businesses are looking for opportunities to build."
Uran said the marketplace would dictate what businesses go there.
"It's commercially very attractive," he said, noting the recently developed Beacon Hill shopping area and talk of a possible hotel near the interchange.
"We're looking at the overall traffic pattern with improvements to Broadway," Uran said, referring to improvements that Indiana Department of Transportation officials said could begin yet this year.
Vehicle counters went up on North Street about two weeks ago to get a measure of traffic before and after the interchange opens, Uran said.
Uran hopes the interchange would make 109th the main route to bring youth sports tournaments, youth athletes, parents and their money to Crown Point.
Officials are working on a plan to upgrade the youth sports complex at the site of the former water plant on North Street and a proposed $16 million Bo Jackson Legacy athletic facility.
City Councilman Robert Corbin was instrumental in helping the city convince state officials to move the planned interchange from 101st to 109th Avenue.
"It just made sense because 101st could never have been an east/west corridor," said Corbin. Local officials convinced INDOT to change the location as well as to move up the construction date.
The new interchange is also the only one in the state to be developed through a city, state and federal collaborative effort, INDOT spokesman Jim Pinkerton said.
"The partnership was one of the project's highlights," Pinkerton said.
About 80 percent of the project is federally funded through efforts of U.S. Rep. Peter Visclosky. Combined with state Major Moves money, the project came in at a cost of about half its original $16 million estimate.
Corbin said the interchange should preserve Crown Point's downtown as a vital area.
"It's a pretty well-known problem that a lot of small cities have, especially in this economy," Corbin said. "The business community has done a lot to keep the Square and surrounding areas vital and vibrant, and I think this will help."
Corbin expected naysayers to blame the interchange for traffic problems and sprawl.
"My response is it is there to help in traffic relief and flow. This was seen as a needed project," Corbin said.
Businesses drooling
Business owners along 109th anxiously await the opening today.
"It will be a wonderful thing for us," said Ron Neal, manager of Strack and Van Til supermarket, which sits at the northeast corner of 109th and Broadway, close to the interchange.
"Having one of the main arteries coming to your business is a positive thing for the business, the town and the area."
Rick Funston, owner of Legacy Builders Inc. in St. John, said, "I can't wait. Everybody I talk to can't wait for it to open."
Funston, who builds houses in a subdivision along 109th Avenue, said when 109th closed for the interchange construction, his sales traffic dropped off.
His son-in-law, who lives in the subdivision, will have an easier commute to Chicago.
"Traffic is basically a concern with everybody, but the rest is all good," Funston said.
David Sobieski, who was eating breakfast at the Crown Point Family Cafe on North Street, said the interchange would make it easier for motorists to get to Winfield.
"It will be good unless they start building all kinds of crap. I like the country," Sobieski said.
Waitress Kerri Reynolds was looking forward to the interchange.
"Hopefully, it will bring in business since the economy is bad," Reynolds said. "Some restaurants around here have closed."
Vickie Kersey, who works at Final Four Liquors down the street, was also hopeful that the increased traffic would help business pick up. "When they closed 109th, we lost some of our regulars from the Winfield area," she said.
Winfield's gain
Winfield, whose corporate boundary sits about a mile from the new interchange, stands to benefit from the new access to I-65.
"It will be outstanding for us," Council President Jim Hicks said. "We have several subdivisions in the throes of construction. The new outlet is going to enhance the value of locating in Winfield more than ever before. It will very definitely have a favorable impact on the local economy."
Additionally, Hicks said, Winfield residents will be able to cut their daily commutes to Chicago by about 20 minutes.
While many businesses look hopefully at the interchange as a cash cow, some residents are skeptical about the expected influx of traffic.
"We have a lot of traffic here and 600 kids over there," said life-long Crown Pointer Sue Buckman, pointing from her home across 109th to the Crown Point Junior Bulldog fields.
Buckman said her parents, who live next door, have to time their exits out of their driveway.
"I can turn around in my drive. They can't," she said.
Buckman said she's still waiting for a turning lane and light on Broadway.
"I don't know why the city didn't push to get that before the interchange," she said. "Think of the traffic that's going to come down here.
"The city is supposed to make improvements on the road here. I hope we see it," Buckman said.