The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD), operator of the South Shore Line railroad, will hold a Double Track Northwest Indiana (DT-NWI) Workshop with Michigan City’s City Council on Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 6:00pm at City Hall, 100 E. Michigan Blvd. in Michigan City, Indiana. The meeting will be in the EOC room on the lower level. The public is welcome to attend as well. The purpose of the Workshop is for NICTD to convey next steps for the project.
“Now that the Federal Transit Administration has approved the Double Track project to enter the final engineering phase of its Capital Investment Program, things will begin to advance more rapidly, and we want the community to be aware of next steps,” said Michael Noland, NICTD President.
Other important meetings of note include two open houses next week tailored specifically to those whose property may be acquired for the project. Affected property owners will be notified of these meetings by mail. The Michigan City real estate open house will be Tuesday, March 3 from 1-6pm at City Hall in the EOC Room. The Gary real estate open house will be Wednesday, March 4 from 1-6pm at the Marshall J. Gardner Center for the Arts (Miller Beach Arts & Creative District, 540 S. Lake Street, Gary IN. Affected residents may attend either session. NICTD’s real estate consultant managing the acquisition process , the firm of Beam, Longest & Neff (BLN), will be present to speak one-on-one with property owners about the acquisition process.
The project is advancing to a 60% design level over the next couple of months, and the public will have an opportunity to see how plans are progressing and provide feedback at one of three identical Public Open Houses to be held in June. The Michigan City meeting will be held at City
Hall in the EOC Room on Wednesday, June 10 from 6-8pm. Other sessions include Tuesday, June 9 from 6-8pm at the Marshall J. Gardner Center for the Arts (Miller Beach Arts & Creative District), 540 S. Lake Street, Gary, IN and Thursday, June 11 from 6-8pm at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 IN 49, Porter, IN.
The current estimated construction start date is mid-2021 with completion in mid-2023.
For additional information regarding this project, we invite you to visit the project website at http://www.doubletrack-nwi.com.