Residents have a chance to share their thoughts on a potential extension of the Old Plank Road Trail into Northwest Indiana. It currently runs from Joliet to Chicago Heights, but a feasibility study is underway to extend it to Dyer, Schererville and possibly Griffith. Planning consultants will hold a community open house Thursday, February 8 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the St. John Township Community Center in Schererville.
"People can come in, talk to myself, talking to the people that are putting the plan together — we're working with a consultant out of Illinois — and just give us their feedback about how we can make it improve the lives of people living here," Mitch Barloga, active transportation planner with the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC), told Lakeshore Public Media.
NIRPC has already funded the section between the Pennsy Greenway in Schererville and Central Park in Dyer. But there are some challenges.
Barloga said the right of way is currently leased by Enbridge, but technically still owned by Norfolk Southern, even though the railroad no longer runs trains there. "We still have to work with the railroad corridor to make sure this works, but it's all right there: an abandoned corridor, ready for transformation, and you even have some grade separations at Calumet Avenue and U.S. 30," Barloga noted.
It's trickier in Chicago Heights, where industry has taken over the old railroad corridor. That requires planners to look for a safe bike route on local streets.
Still, Barloga said there's been some positive feedback. "A lot of Illinois communities are very excited about it," Barloga noted. "We have Schererville on board here in Northwest Indiana, and we're looking to get Dyer and Griffith also on board."
Barloga said Northwest Indiana is uniquely positioned for trail development, due to the number of transportation corridors that historically converged along the south shore of Lake Michigan as they headed to Chicago. He estimated about 150 miles of the Region's abandoned rail corridors has been converted to bike trails.
"It continues to grow, so there's a lot more to come, and the popularity just continues to increase, not only here but nationally," Barloga said.
