BY LAURI HARVEY KEAGLE, Times of Northwest Indiana
lkeagle@nwitimes.com
Communities with existing South Shore rail service and those hoping to get it shared plans Monday for mixed-use developments geared toward commuters.
The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission and the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District sponsored the transit-oriented development workshop at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville.
Such developments involve mixed-use zoning -- single-family homes, townhouses, apartments, condominiums, commercial and retail -- centered on a rail or bus station. The developments encourage people to leave their cars behind and walk to transit opportunities as well as shopping, services and restaurants.
Kristi DeLaurentiis, local government and community relations manager for the Metropolitan Planning Council in Chicago, said she believes there is "plenty of opportunity" for transit-oriented development in Northwest Indiana, given the existing South Shore Line corridor and proposals for a new West Lake corridor east to Valparaiso and south to Lowell.
"This is a great opportunity to encourage you to move forward," DeLaurentiis said.
The developments could help ease gridlock on the Borman Expressway as well as encourage using commuter rail service, she said.
DeLaurentiis said planners in Crete, which is along a proposed Metra rail line, are considering how to incorporate their historic downtown into a transit-oriented development.
In University Park, a Metra station already exists but is in the middle of farmland with a 1,000-space parking lot. Officials there are looking into how they can grow in a transit-friendly way around the existing station, she said.
"The question there was how do we try to create a focal point for our community and a destination center," DeLaurentiis said.
Valparaiso City Planner Craig Philips said his city is preparing for a transit-oriented development, Village Station, near its downtown in anticipation of the proposed South Shore commuter line coming to his city.
"By doing this kind of plan, we'll be better prepared for when, not if, it comes," Philips said. "This isn't just a transit-oriented development plan, but a plan for the growth of our entire community."
Portage's transit development plan, which centers on a parcel on U.S. 12 directly across from the existing Portage/Ogden Dunes South Shore station, is part of a larger plan for the entire north end of the city.
"We need to have the will and the desire to make it happen," said A.J. Monroe, Portage's community development director.
"We definitely haven't taken advantage of our opportunities here in the past."
Munster Town Manager Tom DeGiulio said his town is planning a transit-oriented development called Centennial Park near the intersection of 45th Street and Calumet Avenue in hope of South Shore service coming to his community, but a rail station is not critical to the plans.
"The contracts are out," DeGiulio said. "This is reality."
Because Munster doesn't have a downtown district, DeGiulio said he is banking on the new development providing that sense of a community center.
"It just enhances all of the residential properties here," DeGiulio said.
DeLaurentiis told municipal leaders and planners to look beyond their current zoning ordinances to make transit-oriented developments work for their communities.
"Really embrace the possibilities," DeLaurentiis said.
"It's a very competitive world out there in terms of who is going to get the federal funding. Other communities are going forward on this."