CROWN POINT — Two elected officials representing south Lake County residents have come out against the proposed Illiana tollway, saying they have yet to see the benefit to the region. They are asking members of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission to do the same.
State Rep. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, and Lake County Councilman Eldon Strong, R-Crown Point, came together at a news conference Thursday to say it was time they took a stand against the project that will negatively impact the constituents they represent and will serve only to benefit neighboring Illinois.
They are asking NIRPC members to listen to their concerns and not put the Illiana project in the agency’s 2040 plan, a necessary step for the roadway to move forward. NIRPC is set to vote on the plan in December. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning last month approved placing the roadway in its 2040 plan.
Niemeyer said he has been an elected official ever since efforts to build the highway began, first as a trustee, then a county councilman and now a state representative. Throughout the process he has asked how the roadway will benefit Indiana and to this day, he said, there has been no clear answer.
“I cannot see the benefit for this area, for the state of Indiana or for Northwest Indiana,” Niemeyer said.
Strong said the highway as it is proposed, a tollway, will do nothing to create long-term jobs for the region. Motorists use tollways to get from one place to the next and will not stop to shop.
“Development along a tollway is not beneficial. Any future development on the east end of this project will be costly as there are no nearby sewer and water utilities,” Strong said.
Money would be better spent to repair and improve the region’s aging infrastructure instead of investing money into something that will not benefit the region.
“Let’s fix what we have before we make new,” Strong said, adding money would be better spent on the Gary airport expansion, bridge repairs and revitalization of lakefront communities.
“I urge NIRPC to vote no on the Illiana and bring real jobs to Indiana,” Strong said.
Both men said they understand there often is not-in-my-back-yard resistance for major projects, but when the project benefits the greater good sometimes it must go forward.
“NIMBY is not the No. 1 driving issue on our stance,” Niemeyer said.
He said it might be different if this were an interstate project, but the tollway takes land from its current owners and turns it over to a private entity that will make a profit on it as a tollway.
Niemeyer said they, as public officials, have a responsibility to current residents as well as future residents. He described growth figures for south Lake County used in the Illiana studies as “so exaggerated.”
“It seems like they are pushing the investment in future growth and not taking into consideration the people who live here now,” he said.