ARTICLES

Illiana Toll Road: Stop the spin, let's have an honest public debate

Commentary

By VICKI URBANIK

If there's one thing practically everyone can agree on, it's that the proposed Illiana Expressway could profoundly impact Northwest Indiana. The proposal deserves a serious, in-depth, and honest public debate. That hasn't happened. Instead, some Illiana proponents have promoted the project with arguments rooted in half-truths or exaggerations. And sadly, instead of allowing the project to stand on its own merits, some Illiana backers are now using the lure of big money to win over support.

The citizens fighting the Illiana toll road have waged a decent and above-board battle. It's time for public leaders to show the same respect.

Let's debate this, openly and honestly, based on the facts.

Congestion

Some say the Illiana Expressway will relieve congestion on the Borman, which technically is the section of I-80/94 west of I-65 in Lake County.

Citizens against the Illiana toll road have asked to see the studies backing up the congestion projections, but have been told that no study exists.

The projections on congestion come from very preliminary computer modeling that looked at a new Illiana extending from Illinois only to I-65.

The modeling assumed that all existing land use, traffic patterns and population remained unchanged. The modeling did not take into account increase in truck traffic due to the new, rail-to-truck Intermodal facility planned in LaPorte County -- a facility that, if built, would dramatically increase truck traffic through Northwest Indiana.

In 1992, the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission did conduct an in-depth I-80/94 congestion study that analyzed a variety of options for reducing Borman congestion. Interestingly, one of the options considered was to lift the tolls on the Indiana Toll Road and the Chicago Skyway. Of course, lifting the tolls is no longer an option: Chicago Mayor Richard Daley leased the Skyway to the Macquarie Infrastructure Group, and then Gov. Mitch Daniels and state lawmakers leased the Toll Road to Macquarie-Cintra last year.

The 1992 NIRPC study found that the new expressway would not provide long-term relief on the Borman. A new expressway would "attract significant traffic volumes," the study summary stated, "however, much of the capacity made available on I-80/94 would be absorbed by traffic returning to I-80/94 from congested arterial routes."

Granted, a 15-year-old study shouldn't be the basis for action on a 2007 proposal. But there is no comparable 2007 study. Studies done in other areas show that toll roads actually increase congestion on regional roads and promote disinvestment in the more urbanized areas.

Some say the real impetus for building an Illiana expressway east of I-65 is not to reduce congestion, but to add highway capacity for new development, specifically for LaPorte County's proposed new 5,000-acre Intermodal. If that is the case, the public deserves to know. The public deserves to know how much additional truck traffic will pass through Lake and Porter counties as a result. And the public deserves to know how our non-attainment status for air pollution will be affected by the increased truck emissions and whether the added traffic will hinder economic development projects planned elsewhere in our region.

Other beneficiaries of a new highway could be the proposed Lake County convention center and the Peotone Airport in Illinois. If these projects are a driving force behind the Illiana plan, the public has a right to know.

Talk, Talk, Talk

Many have said that the Illiana has been talked about for years.

It is certainly true that there has been talk about "an" Illiana (or south county highway) for decades, but not "the" Illiana now proposed. There's a huge difference.

The 1992 study cited above analyzed the congestion impacts of an Illiana, if one extended to I-65 and if it extended farther to Ind. 49. A search of newspaper stories, meeting minutes and the like shows that in recent years, various officials have "talked about" an Illiana, but one extending only to I-65 in Lake County.

NIRPC's latest transportation plan, in the works for several years and just updated in December, endorses a further study of an Illiana Expressway from I-57 to I-65. There is no mention of an Illiana expressway extending through south Porter County and into LaPorte County. Several officials -- at the state and regional and county level -- have said they were surprised when they saw the governor's tri-county Illiana plan, because they didn't think there was any talk of extending the Illiana beyond I-65.

The current Illiana plan has never before been publicly debated or discussed.

Property Rights and Privatization

The governor's Illiana plan would use the state's power of eminent domain to seize citizens' property so that a private company -- maybe even a foreign one -- can profit from a government protected monopoly.

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that governments can use eminent domain for private economic development projects, citzens from across the political spectrum were outraged at what they felt was an abuse of government power.

Among the critics were many Indiana lawmakers. Just last year, the Legislature passed a law that attempted to tighten the use of eminent domain when private interests stand to profit.

The national debate over private roads is also heating up. A U.S. House subcommittee recently held hearings on highway privatization projects. A national coalition has been formed to lobby against privatized toll roads. This coalition, called Americans for a Strong National Highway Network, includes the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, AAA, the American Trucking Association, the American Motorcyclist Association, and the RV Industry Association.

The Spin

It can be a difficult and boring read to delve into congestion numbers. Or analyze free enterprise and price fixing and monopoly control of the U.S. highway system. Or read about the master plans for airports and studies on urban sprawl's effect on poverty levels and crime rates.

But public leaders owe it to the public to do their homework and not lie or spin the truth or vote based on the views of their allies or enemies. And journalists have that same responsibility to search for substance, not sensation.

Sadly, some of the media in our area have failed miserably. Numerous references in media reports have been made to "the study" inherent in S.B. 1. Back in December, the governor's unveiling of the Illiana called for a bi-state study. One would assume that this study would have included a complex traffic study, like the one done by NIRPC in 1992, as well as environmental reviews and other provisions required under the National Environmental Protection Act. In other words, the citizens expected a comprehensive study that would have explored the fundamental question -- do we need another new toll road in our area? -- before any decision is made to pursue the project.

S.B. 1, however, isn't about a study. It would grant legislative approval for a privatized toll road, even before any needs-based study is done. Should S.B. 1 pass, the studies that would follow would be not whether we need the road, but where the road will go.

Instead of asking pointed questions in pursuit of sound public policy, some members of the local media have dumbed down and sugar-coated the debate, sometimes resorting to name calling or staging events to suit their particular positions.

One newspaper editor called the Illiana opponents "narrow minded." Another editor labeled the opponents as "mostly farmers," as if farm owners are somehow second class citizens, not the businessmen and women they are.

In one story, an unattributed statement was made that hardly anyone came to one Illiana meeting. I counted more than 130 people.

State Sen. Tom Wyss, the author of S.B. 1, stated on the Senate floor that "we" don't care if the Illiana toll road is successful or not. "We've got their money."

When an Illiana opponent alluded to this statement at a public event, a newspaper editor blasted the opponents for daring to suggest that the Illiana is about money. Soon afterwards, another editorial stumped for the Illiana in part because it might produce a jaw dropping amount of upfront cash.

The good people of Northwest Indiana deserve much better -- from their media and from their public leaders.

Chesterton Tribune, 3/9/2007