GARY, Ind. — Plans for a new rail line from Wisconsin to Indiana to bypass freight congestion in Chicago are back on the table. The developer, whose new rail plans drew opposition from many farmers, is now proposing  construction of a toll road and playing a role in creation of a new airport to go with it.

 

Great Lakes Basin Transportation, Inc. (GLBT) on May 1 filed an application with the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) to build and operate a 275- mile rail line from southeastern Wisconsin to northwestern Indiana. The application was submitted within the deadline set by the STB in December, after at the request of GLBT it suspended its environmental review of the original proposed rail line.

 

Frank Patton, founder and chair of the GLBT, cited a desire to finish a “more complete overview of the project’s business and operating impacts” before proceeding with the environmental impact study, in a letter to the STB asking for a delay. He called the line “the largest single freight railroad project proposed for the Chicago region in over a century … We look forward to working with the STB and other interested parties to move this project forward.”

 

Patton also announced plans for what he called the “Build Program” to provide not just new rail but also more road and air transport capacity in the Midwest. One of the proposals is construction of a privately funded toll road named the Burnham Expressway, to connect the Indiana toll road with interstates 80/94 and 65 near Gary, Ind., with interstates 57, 55 and 80 in northeastern Illinois.

 The purpose of the highway would be to expedite motor vehicle travel around the often bottlenecked roads of Chicago. In addition, the program calls for GLBT to participate in the next round of development opportunities concerning a building of a third Chicago area airport.

 “It is critical to begin this work now, pursuing all required legal and environmental reviews and approvals so that these new rail, road and air facilities will be in place when they are needed,” said Patton.

 Indiana state Sen. Mike Bohacek (R-Michiana Shores) is against the proposal because it views this part of Indiana simply as a way to divert traffic out of Chicago when the focus here is making the area a more attractive place to live, work and do business.

 

“I’m completely supportive of private investment in our communities, but this quite frankly is not the kind of investment we need,” he said.

 There’s a belief the line ending in Kingsbury would result in the construction of a trans-loading facility where goods brought in are shipped out on trucks, and would produce a great deal of jobs. Bohacek, though, does not believe it would be a major long-term job producer and said no major railroad signed on to use the new rail line the last time it was proposed.

 

He doesn’t expect any major railroads to jump on board this time, either, and said adding a toll road was done simply to generate revenue to help construct a rail line that doesn’t have adequate private investment.

 “To me, it looks like an attempt at a profit take by trying to bypass a metropolitan area,” said Bohacek, who examined the idea at length previously as a LaPorte County commissioner prior to his November election to the state legislature.

 

Bohacek, who’s made a living in the logistics and transportation fields for a quarter-century, also said the line will not produce additional rail traffic, only bypass train congestion that already exists.

 He’s also opposed to it because the route the line would take cuts across a great deal of productive farmland, not existing infrastructure, and would disrupt the lives of farmers and other residents. “If we’re going to do that, it better be for something that’s so beneficial that it outweighs many of the negatives – and this project quite frankly is not that. It’s to me just a pipe dream,” he said.