The Portage Redevelopment Commission is getting closer to opening up hundreds of acres for development on the city’s north side, both by pursuing bonds for a new bridge and by authorizing the use of eminent domain, if necessary, to acquire a tiny piece of land needed for the bridge.

The bridge over Burns Waterway is a vital step in extending Burns Parkway west from Ind. 249 to Hillcrest Road at U.S. 12, a vital link to the transit development district surrounding the South Shore Line station serving Portage and Ogden Dunes.

No one spoke at the public hearing Thursday on the plan to issue up to $10 million in bonds. City Council approval is also necessary before it goes back to the RDC for final action.

The city has been acquiring land on the city’s north side, Mayor Austin Bonta explained, but the bridge is a vital link. “This is the ability for us to be able to bond to be able to build the bridge,” he said.

Having “skin in the game,” Redevelopment Director Dan Botich said, allows the RDC to work with other entities to get additional funding.

After the City Council approves the bond, the RDC will have another hearing and explain the impact on homes at various assessed values to give homeowners a better idea of how the bonds could affect their tax bills, Botich said.

Taking Burns Parkway to Stagecoach Road and ultimately to Hillcrest isn’t included in the $10 million cost for the bridge. “That is a much higher cost project,” Bonta said. “The bridge is the first step.”

Showing the intent and ability to issue bonds for extending the road and building the bridge shows future developers there would be future access to the property. “It’s now much more developable and sellable,” when developers know they can access the property, Bonta said. “It will open the whole piece of land for development.”

In addition to extending the road, the project calls for having the Marquette Greenway run alongside the road. A lane on either side of the two lanes of vehicular traffic is planned for the trail when it comes to the bridge, Botich said.

As traffic builds, one of the lanes for the trail could eventually be used for vehicular traffic, still leaving plenty of room for the trail on the other side of the bridge with separation from vehicles, Botich said.

The north interceptor line capturing sewage from the city’s north side and transporting it to the wastewater treatment plant is included in the massive construction project, estimated to take 1.5 to two years, Botich said. “All of this construction, we’re trying to get all of it done at the same time.”

“Everybody sees the vision and the benefits from it,” Bonta said. The planning spans at least four previous mayoral administrations that Bonta could think of, he said. But now it finally appears to be coming to fruition.

When the concept was shopped around, Bonta said, so many people responded, “Is that Portage? Where is that?” But with the infrastructure in place, people will know exactly where it is.

Consultant SEH estimates a strong return on investment, with about $450 million to $600 million in private dollars coming to the site.

“It’s a huge piece of developable land,” Bonta said, once the bridge and road are in place. It’s close to Lake Michigan and the Port of Indiana — Burns Harbor as well as Interstate 94 and the Indiana Toll Road, making it ideal for light industrial and warehouses.

Closer to the train station and Indiana Dunes National Park, Botich expects to see lodging and other tourist accommodations as well as other commercial and residential development. “It becomes an economic generator,” he said.

Without the bridge and road, it’s just “hundreds and hundreds of acres of land,” Botich said.

One hitch in getting the bridge built is gaining a tiny portion of a 40.68-acre parcel held by a trust to allow the bridge to be built. The city wants to acquire 2.68 acres, but so far the property owner has balked at selling.

“We really need this portion of the property,” Botich said. The bridge needs to be aligned a certain way to meet NIPSCO’s requirements because of transmission lines running through there. “If not, we’re going to have to redesign the bridge, and it’s going to cost an awful lot more money,” he said.

Only 6,000 square feet isn’t already in a regulated drainage easement, RDC attorney Scott McClure said. “This is the absolute smallest intrusion that can be requested.”

Like the bond, permission to pursue eminent domain proceedings requires City Council approval.

Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.