Dyer leaders are getting ready to capitalize on the new commuter rail station at Main Street, at the border with Munster. The station is expected to open later this year, as part of the West Lake Corridor project. It will be the south end of what will be known as the South Shore Line Monon Corridor.
Town council member Mary Tanis says Dyer will benefit from Munster's investments at the site. "I thank them because it's a welcome to our town, and so when they did some brickwork and they put some more landscaping in, it makes our town look really good because that's where you're coming in," Tanis said during last week's council meeting.
Now, the town's redevelopment commission is looking to hire consulting firm MKSK to redesign the Sheffield Avenue corridor that leads to the new station. Town Manager David Hein told members last week that it would include curb replacements and landscaped "islands."
"Sheffield Avenue has a center turn lane down the whole entire way," Hein explained. "It's not necessarily needed each and every section, so there is some suggestion to do landscaping in the middle to kind of break it up to give it a new look, to kind of make it look like it's revitalized."
MKSK has also worked with the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority on the area's transit development districts.
Meanwhile, Tanis was so impressed by the railroad's Monon logo, she'd like to see it throughout Dyer. "I would like to look at using that logo for the Monon Corridor to be used for our wayfinding signs and other opportunities, as people travel along not only Sheffield but also Calumet Avenue," Tanis said during the council meeting.
Hein said the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation should be responsible for wayfinding signs, but he felt the town could also capitalize on those efforts.