Illiana expressway to connect I-55 and I-65

The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission voted ‘yes’ on the Illiana Expressway Thursday, Deputy Director and Director of Planning for NIRPC Steve Strains said.

This was a necessary step for the project to receive federal approval.

The Illiana Expressway is a 47-mile highway from Interstate 55 in Illinois to Interstate 65 in Indiana.

The two departments of transportation are working on the project together as a public-private partnership, meaning a private contractor will design, build and operate the new roadway.

Strains said the vote was 29 to 8 in favor.

“Indiana and Illinois are demonstrating that regional problems require regional solutions,” Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., said in a press release. “By partnering together on the Illiana Expressway, we can solve some of our region’s biggest transportation challenges.”

Some local residents see issues with the project.

Thomas Tokarski, a spokesperson for Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, said he does not support the Illiana Expressway.

“In general, I think we need to stop pouring money into more and bigger highways and begin to fund more public transit and rail alternatives,” Tokarski said.

The Illiana Expressway will cost about $1.5 billion, of which Indiana will pay about $500 million.

According to the press release, the project would create about 9,000 construction jobs during a 30-year period.

The Indiana segment of the highway will be 12 miles long, with potential interchanges at I-65, I-55 and U.S. 41.

Tokarski said he does not support the expressway in part because of the environmental effect it will have.

Highway congestion is a problem in urban areas, Tokarski said.

“One lesson we should have learned decades ago is that we cannot build our way out of congestion,” Tokarski said. “The more roads that are built, the more people drive.”

Tokarski also said people need to take climate change seriously and cut back on carbon emissions. Internal combustion vehicles, he said, are a major source of those emissions.

“New highway construction can be hugely damaging to the environment. I-69, for example, is an environmental disaster,” Tokarski said. “We can’t go on abusing our environment in this way if we expect to have a livable environment in the future.”

The Illiana Expressway is expected to be constructed from 2015-18.

“What was unique about this project compared to I-69 is that it’s a bi-state project,” Strains said.

Tokarski said the aging population would benefit more from an affordable public transit system as driving becomes more difficult for them.

“Younger people are not driving as much as in previous generations, and we can encourage that trend by supporting public transit,” Tokarski said.

Tokarski said people need to plan for the transportation future, not past.

In a press release discussing NIRPC’s approval, Coats said, “This is an important step toward beginning construction of the Illiana Expressway, and I commend NIRPC for moving the development process forward.”

Follow reporter Mary Hauber on Twitter @mary_hauber.