MUNSTER | Standing just about 400 feet from a planned commuter rail nexus, officials from three Lake County communities extolled the virtues of extending the
South Shore Line on Thursday.
"It means jobs, it means increased property values, it means giving our residents greater access to the jobs they seek ... in downtown Chicago," said Munster Clerk-Treasurer David Shafer.
Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas and Cedar Lake Town Council Vice President Charlie Kaper joined Shafer at the shelter at Munster's Community Veterans Memorial on Thursday afternoon to push a project they said could transform the region.
The shelter is just south of where the South Shore would branch off for Valparaiso and Lowell, at 45th Street and Calumet Avenue. Munster plans a mixed use commuter-rail stop at the site.
The chorus in praise of the South Shore extension came as others worked the halls of power in Indianapolis, pressing key members of the Indiana General Assembly to pass legislation authorizing a tax on license renewals in Lake and Porter counties.
"Why are we here?" Munster Town Manager Tom DeGiulio asked.
He then answered his own question: "It's time to keep things going. In three weeks we don't want the General Assembly saying we didn't do anything because there was no support up there."
Extending the South Shore to Lowell and Valparaiso would cost more than $1 billion dollars, according to the most recent estimates. The local share could top $500 million.
Big figures like that didn't faze those at Thursday's gathering. In fact, they argued big investments will reap even bigger dividends for the region. DeGiulio said people only have to look across the Illinois border to see what commuter rail can do for communities that were once only a smattering of homes and cornfields.
U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., also added his voice to the chorus.
"I applaud Munster, Valparaiso, Cedar Lake and every community in Northwest Indiana who has led the charge to extend the South Shore Line," Visclosky said in a prepared statement. "These communities are working together to improve the quality of life in Northwest Indiana."
Valparaiso is laying plans for 73-acre mixed-use development around a commuter rail station to host the South Shore terminus. Called Village Station, it would have 50 single-family residences, condominiums, offices and stores.
Munster is already laying plans for a 1,000-space parking garage and multistory building overlooking the lakes at its new Centennial Park to go along with a South Shore commuter station.
Cedar Lake already has a developer wanting to name his newest project Union Station, as soon as he can get word the South Shore extension is a go.