Dan Ryan snarls could nick Northwest Indiana economies

Truckers will take a pay cut. Chicago gamblers may stay home. Charter flight operators hope customers keep coming. And some Northwest Indiana commuters are looking for jobs closer to home.

Dan Ryan Expressway construction will slow more than just traffic. The congestion caused by the $600 million project also could slow significant sectors of the economy in Northwest Indiana and the south suburbs.

"It certainly will have some negative impacts," said Ken Dallmeyer, deputy director of transportation planning for the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. "But it is not a permanent thing, and it will get better in two years."

Dallmeyer notes the regional transportation system has a good deal of flexibility, and past construction projects have not led to the gridlock predicted by some.

The Dan Ryan project will impact more of Chicago's traffic flow than any previous project. More than 300,000 vehicles use the expressway every weekday.

It is the main truck route into Chicago, and half its lanes will be shut down.

"We just feel like a helpless victim in this whole thing," said Harold Antonson, chief financial officer for trucking company U.S. One Industries, in Gary. "We don't seem to have an advocate for people who use the highways."

Trucking companies eventually may have to consider surcharges for some deliveries, Antonson said. Truckers may be taking home less pay.

A truck driver operating out of Northwest Indiana can make as many as three round trips a day to Chicago. Starting Monday, that may be cut to two, according to Jack Crotty, owner of JL Shandy Transportation Inc., in Cedar Lake.

In addition, drivers will be using more diesel fuel because of the traffic tie-ups. Crotty predicts some drivers could see their earnings down 20 percent for the year.

Northwest Indiana's $1.2 billion gaming industry, which employs 7,000 people, is also waiting to see what the cards hold. By most estimates, more than half the gamblers frequenting the boats come from Illinois.

The Dan Ryan construction, in tandem with the Chicago Skyway construction slated to start soon, will make it harder for Illinois gamblers to get here, concedes Joe Branchik, vice president of marketing for Horseshoe Casino, in Hammond.

But they will get here, he said.

"We have dealt with it (road construction) year after year," Branchik said. "It's become a part of doing business."

The casino will send out information on the construction and alternate routes with the tens of thousands of direct mailings it sends to patrons every month.

Don Coffin, an economist with Indiana University Northwest, said casinos are just one sector of the entertainment business that might feel an effect.

But in any case, the effect will be highly local and nothing like the region would experience in an economic downturn.

For example, some businesses on Torrence Avenue in Lansing lost 30 percent to 50 percent of their business when that street and the nearby Bishop Ford Freeway interchange were both under construction, Coffin said.

Local airports are bracing for something, but they're just not sure what. Charter companies that fly out of region airports count on Loop businesses for much of their passenger load.

Gary/Chicago International Airport specifically markets to those travelers, pointing out that Gary is only a short hop from the Loop via the Skyway.

"We honestly just don't know what to expect," said Cynthia Polk, customer service manager for the Gary Jet Center. "Regardless, it will be faster than going from Midway to downtown because they will be on the Skyway."

Another aspect of the local economy that could suffer is what economists call "labor market flexibility." Most people call it getting a job.

Between 1990 and 2000, the number of people heading to jobs in the Chicago area from homes in Northwest Indiana climbed 22 percent. According to Census figures, 52,000 hit the road every day.

The Dan Ryan project could affect that trend, but will not stop it, Coffin said. It all depends on where the person works and how much more he or she can make there as opposed to a job closer to home.

"If you have to spend two hours to get to work and two hours to get back, it may just not be worth it," he said.

Some commuters already are weighing the pros and cons.

John Lesniak, of Highland, works as a locksmith at the Home Depot on Chicago's North Avenue. He is looking into transferring to a Home Depot in Northwest Indiana, but knows he would probably have to take a pay cut.

Even before today, the commute home could take up to three hours.

"If they take out the express lanes, if they get down to two lanes, it will be a bear," Lesniak said. "It will come to a screeching halt."