The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authorityon Friday voted 7-0 to commit to providing $8 million per year to building an eight mile extension of the South Shore commuter railroad.
The RDA's donation to the project is meant to rev up support among local communities, which are being lobbied to contribute 34 percent of their receipts from the county economic development income tax (CEDIT) to funding the South Shore extension.
Half of the $571 million price tag for the project must be raised at the local or state level in order to qualify for the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts program, which could fund up to 50 percent of its cost.
The South Shore extension would run eight miles from Hammond to Dyer.
In addition, the RDA is expected to contribute $1.1 million to South Shore operator Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District to undertake an environmental impact study of the proposed route. NICTD will kick in $1.9 million more.
U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., has been one of those soliciting local communities to put up a portion of their share of Lake County's new economic development income tax for the project.
On Monday, the Munster Town Council voted unanimously voted to commit 34 percent of its receipts from the CEDIT to funding the South Shore expansion.
That 34 percent would come to $279,623 in 2014. The town will receive $822,421 altogether during 2014 to be used for economic development.
The extension would attract 5,600 new riders to the South Shore, according to a study by Policy Analytics, of Indianapolis. Those new riders, along with others attracted by improvements planned for the existing South Shore line, would bring $147 million in wages to Northwest Indiana annually.