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Keith Benman
The NWI Times
South Shore to Plan for Airport Connections
The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District is driving toward undertaking a $200,000 study of how best to connect the South Shore commuter railroad with the Gary/Chicago International Airport terminal.
The NICTD board of trustees on Friday approved hiring consultant TranSystems, of Shaumburg, Ill., to undertake the study, contingent on raising $40,000 in local funding to pay for it. The rest of the money will come out of a $1.7 million federal grant already secured by U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.
"As the runway expansion goes forward and we anticipate increased use of the airport, now is the time to look at connectivity with the South Shore," said Gary Airport Deputy Director Steve Landry shortly after Friday's vote at NICTD offices at the Dune Park South Shore station.
The Gary airport authority will apply to the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority for the $40,000 needed to leverage $160,000 in federal money, Landry said.
The study will look at a broad range of options for connecting the South Shore with the airport, according to NICTD Planning and Marketing Director John Parsons. Each of the options will be tied to the level of commercial air activity at the airport, Parsons said.
For example, dial-a-ride shuttle vans might be used for the startup of air service. If the airport really takes off, a rail shuttle might be built. That service could go to Gary's Metro Center, the East Chicago South Shore station or the Clark Street South Shore flag stop, which is a little more than a mile from the airport terminal.
A South Shore spur or other connection with the Gary airport was a key demand of Gary Mayor Rudy Clay when state legislative leaders sought support last year for expanding the commuter railroad to Lowell and Valparaiso.
In other action, NICTD trustees approved a memorandum of understanding with Michigan City that will clear the way for engineering and design work on a South Shore reroute that would take the rail line south of its current route down the middle of 10th and 11th streets.
Rerouting the South Shore to get it off city streets has been discussed since the 1960s. NICTD trustees on Friday voted to finally resolve the issue of a preferred route and to get planning underway.
"I think this is a big win," said Barbara Huston, a trustee from LaPorte County. "And it's time to get to work on it and move forward and stop just talking about it.
The reroute would also involve closing the South Shore station at 11th and Pine Street and another at Carroll Avenue, Parsons told the board. Those two would be consolidated to a new station to be built at Franklin and Wabash streets with a parking lot for 800 vehicles.
NICTD or Michigan City will also have to buy or condemn numerous properties to make way for the two-mile reroute.
The reroute would eliminate 17 of 34 at-grade crossings and shave about 6 minutes off the trip through Michigan City, Parsons said.
This article ran on nwitimes.com on May 30, 2009.
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