Northwest Indiana shippers facing gridlock and higher costs, study says

PORTAGE -- Northwest Indiana shippers face gridlock and higher costs for moving goods to market in the next 25 years, an INDOT official told the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission's Transportation Policy Committee meeting Tuesday.

Keith Bucklew, director of freight mobility for the state agency, presented the results of the Multi-Modal Freight Study and Plan, completed last month.

The study, with recommendations that will be presented to legislators this month, examines the movement of freight into, out of, within and through Indiana between now and 2035.

"We focused on demand and infrastructure. We looked at regulations and policies, such as speed limits, size and truck weights. We talked with stakeholders, including other MPOs (metropolitan planning organizations)," Bucklew said.

He said connectivity is a major problem, with increasing rail and road congestion in the Chicago area and lack of north-south rail routes in Indiana raising consumer costs as truck cargoes are shifted to railroads.

"In 1980 trucks were 5 to 7 percent of the traffic. Today it's 30 to 40 percent," he said.

He said the coal used in Indiana comes from Montana and Wyoming on railroads that run through, instead of around, Chicago. Meanwhile, Indiana's coal deposits go unused, because of the east-west "pass through" rail system that has been in place since the 1800s.

Bucklew said similar problems face movements of other products.

"Indiana is the most manufacturing-intensive state and ninth in agriculture," he said.

He said the study notes that Gary/Chicago, Indianapolis and other airports could handle increased shipments, if rails and roads were able to bring in cargo. The same is true for the ports on Lake Michigan and the Ohio River.

Bucklew said the study results will be incorporated into INDOT's long-range plans.

One way of increasing truck capacity under consideration is raising the weight limit to 97,000 pounds as some other states may do, he said.

In other rail-related business, the committee passed by voice vote a high-speed rail resolution urging state support of the Midwest high-speed rail plan.