Over the last 14 years, Northwest Indiana has seen many changes, especially along our lakeshore. Many residents may not know just how much the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority (RDA) has been a part of those changes. From lakeshore beautification to the expansion of the South Shore Line, the RDA has been working hand-in-hand with state and local entities to create a region that provides opportunity and well-being for its residents
“The idea was to create an entity that could help to fund large-scale infrastructure projects for the Region. We have some unique assets, like the Lake Michigan shoreline, that stretch across multiple communities, but no one community has the full amount of resources to take advantage of that. We were created in order to create a pool of funds that would be available for matching grants to help address that,” said Dave Wellman, Communications Manager at RDA.
For the first nine years, the RDA’s biggest project throughout the region was the Marquette Plan, a state-driven initiative similar to the Burnham Plan of Chicago. The Marquette Plan encouraged lakeshore property to be developed and dedicated to recreational use.
“The whole idea was to dedicate the shoreline to public use, beaches, trails, hiking, all types of recreational uses. We wanted to really develop it as an asset,” Wellman said. “We had great lakefront properties with recreational opportunities, but they were either underutilized or had fallen into disrepair due to various budget reasons.”
East Chicago, Whiting, Hammond, Gary, and Portage all saw major improvements, from boardwalks to entertainment pavilions, and much more. The rehabs have provided beautiful places to hold events, which creates revenue and allows more residents greater access to lakefront activities.
In each city, the RDA has watched leadership build and expand even further, which is one of their overall goals.
“The kinds of projects that we want to fund are those that help to transform the Region and that catalyze other projects. We want something that’s going to be an anchor for growth,” Wellman said.
Another of the major projects the RDA helped to fund was the runway expansion at the Gary/Chicago International Airport. The City of Gary then carried on the development and added a customs facility to make the airport a truly international airport.
The work the RDA does is in full cooperation with the local cities and counties, as well as other various organizations looking to further develop the Region.
“None of these projects are just us. They’re all done with our partner communities. We don’t swoop in and make things happen, we’ve got a lot of great people and communities that we work with,” Wellman said. “We can only do these projects in conjunction with our community partners.”
Currently, that means working with the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) for an expansion of the South Shore Line. The Westlake Corridor will provide a new train line between Hammond and Dyer, allowing easier access to the South Shore Line for the southern Lake County area.
There is also a double-track expansion project in the works that will see an added track between Gary and Michigan City, offering a huge amount of options for NICTD commuters.
“It will vastly improve service. With a single track, your trains are severely limited on how fast they can run and even how many trains you can run. It makes it difficult to have things like skip-stop and express trains,” Wellman said. “With double-tracking, now you have that option. You can run many more trains, skip-stop and express trains, and you can run your trains at higher speeds so you can get to your destination faster.”
The NICTD projects are expected to bring more residents to the area, drive more revenue, create new jobs, and provide higher household incomes.
“We believe that these projects are going to be absolutely transformative for the Region. It’s more than $2 billion worth of development over the next two decades and will hopefully bring in more than 10,000 new residents, create more jobs here in the Region, and access to more jobs in Chicago as residents can get into and out of the city a lot more conveniently,” Wellman said.
Ultimately, that means greater revenue for the Region communities.
“People can earn their money in Chicago and bring it back to the area to spend,” Wellman said.
For residents of Northwest Indiana, the RDA has helped to bring a better quality of life by providing beautiful areas for residents to enjoy and creating greater opportunities. Driving economic growth throughout the Region, they are leading the entire Region toward a brighter future.
For more information on the RDA, visit their website: https://www.in.gov/rda/
