PORTAGE — Just two more votes next month are all that stand in the way of construction of the 47-mile bi-state Illiana tollway.
In a muddled meeting Tuesday, a Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission transportation policy committee approved a staff recommendation that moved the controversial highway forward to a Dec. 3 vote by this same committee.
Tuesday’s favorable 8-3 vote, with eight members abstaining, pertained to a required analysis of the Illiana’s impact on congestion in other transportation corridors.
That report, presented by NIRPC staffer Kevin Garcia, also included a recommendation to support the widening of Interstate 65 from U.S. 30 south to Indiana 2.
The full NIRPC commission will vote on Dec. 12. The project stops if any of these votes fail.
Some confusion ensued Tuesday when the committee voted 8-3 to pass the recommendation, but eight members also abstained for unexplained reasons.
Committee chairman Shawn Pettit, of Merrillville, worried about the number of abstentions.
“It’s an important step,” Pettit said of Tuesday’s vote. “I want to make sure we’re doing it right.”
NIRPC executive director Ty Warner said the majority vote should be sufficient to pass the measure.
Meanwhile, Tuesday’s report suggested Illiana would have a small impact on traffic, reducing it 8.6 percent on Interstate 80/94 and only 0.8 percent on U.S. 30 by 2040.
“It doesn’t look like Illiana will solve congestion, but it does look better than the alternative of doing nothing,” said Garcia.
Committee member Don Parker explained his “no” vote saying the wrong questions were being asked. “If the choice is between bad options and not a lot of options and we’re still left with congestion ... there needs to be more discussion.”
Parker said some people will use Illiana just because it’s there, but that doesn’t address existing congestion.
After the vote, three Lowell-area residents and a Peotone, Ill., resident all spoke against the proposed highway. Two union officials supported it.
Lowell resident Sandy Linden said she’s studied reports on Illiana and called the public/private partnership to build the toll road from Interstate 65 near Lowell to Interstate 55 near Wilmington, Ill., a bad idea.
That partnership calls for up front investor money that’s supplemented with annual payments from the states. “Why do we need to guarantee payments? This isn’t a free road... It seems like Illiana supporters are drinking Illinois propaganda Kool-Aid.”
Doug Strayer, an official with the Northwest Indiana Building Trades Council, said Illiana is essential to reduce traffic on local roads and to relieve congestion on I-80/94. “It will spur economic development and provide effective transportation corridor and create new long-term opportunities for companies.”
Andrew Armstrong, an attorney with the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago, said building a 47-mile toll way in farmlands doesn’t make good financial sense.
“INDOT (Indana Department of Transportation) has not shown the project can pay for itself.” He said taxpayers would be on the hook if the toll road revenues were not sufficient.