Creating a new land development subsidiary and pursuing the designation of a portion of U.S. 12 as a scenic byway are among the highlights of the new 20-year strategic plan being considered by the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.

The land development entity would function like a land bank, acquiring and assembling parcels to facilitate development, President and CEO Sherri Ziller said. It would also focus on cleaning up issues like brownfields, or environmentally tainted land, for future projects.

“Along the way, we realized there are barriers to development here,” including land that has become contaminated as a result of industrial use over the decades.

The lack of sanitary sewers is another barrier to development in some places, including communities like Beverly Shores and The Pines in northwest Porter County that rely on septic systems.

The land development entity will help municipalities that struggle with the challenges of redeveloping larger sites, helping to seek grant funding for these projects. The RDA is investing $5 million of its own money to get the subsidiary launched.

The RDA hopes to reclaim land no longer needed by industries or utilities to allow their use for lakefront amenities.

Improving at-grade rail crossings would make accessing the lakefront easier, too.

Scenic byway

Capitalizing on Indiana Dunes National Park’s increased popularity since achieving national park designation six years ago – it was previously a national lakeshore – the RDA plans to pursue designating portions of U.S. 12 as a national scenic byway. It’s been a goal of the national park for more than 40 years.

Ultimately, the scenic byway designation would cover a stretch from Miller to Michigan City, consultant and strategic plan coauthor Aaron Kowalsky said, but the initial stretch would be from Ind. 49 to Mount Baldy.

Achieving that designation requires meeting criteria that factor in archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic qualities, Ziller said.

The tourism agencies in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties have already offered letters of support, and the Indiana Department of Transportation is receptive to the idea, Ziller said.

The scenic byway designation would help promote tourism spending through coordinated efforts and investments along the way to enhance the visitor experience.

According to the National Park Service, Indiana Dunes National Park had more than 2.7 million visits in 2024. Studies have shown its annual economic impact on local communities is more than $200 million, the RDA noted.

Rail expansion

In the past, the RDA has focused on commuter rail and improvements at Gary/Chicago International Airport. Its transportation aims for the next 20 years would include future expansion of commuter rail and improvements at Porter County Regional Airport.

For the past 10 years, the RDA’s heavy focus has been on commuter rail, notably the Double Track NWI and West Lake Corridor projects. Now the double track project is completed, and service on the West Lake Corridor route between Hammond and Dyer is expected to begin either at the end of this year or early next year, Ziller said.

Together, the two projects represent a $1.5 billion investment in commuter rail.

“For the first time, commuter rail in Northwest Indiana is operating on a competitive basis with Metra,” Ziller said, which should help attract residents and businesses.

Transit development districts around train stations provide incentives to developers for redevelopment projects. In 2016, the RDA predicted $2.7 billion in new development over the next 20 years. Projects are rapidly moving toward that goal.

“We’re actually at our 2029 level,” Ziller said, and twice the 2024 predicted level with more than $500 million in projects started or announced.

Other ideas for rail expansion include extending the new north-south route further south or a branch off the main line to Valparaiso and Porter County Regional Airport, along with a possible route to Crown Point, Ziller said.

Airports

“We have the second largest runway in the greater Chicago area” at Gary/Chicago International Airport, Ziller said.

The RDA plan for Gary/Chicago International Airport includes collaborating with the Gary Airport Authority and the state to develop a new revenue strategy, including private sector investment, in anticipating the end of the compact with Chicago.

The RDA also wants to help modernize the airport to serve commercial passenger flights, an elusive goal, and continue to grow cargo operations.

At Porter County Regional Airport, the RDA hopes to boost its status as a future cargo hub for Northwest Indiana, calling it an underutilized asset.

Looking back

In its first decade, the RDA invested $50 million in the Gary airport, including a runway extension and relocating a rail line.

Bill Sheldrake, of Policy Analytics, worked with Aaron Kowalsky of MKSK to draft the new strategic plan. At about 250 pages, the plan is still undergoing final revisions. Sheldrake has consulted with the RDA since its inception, including drafting the first strategic plan.

“I think people don’t understand the magnitude of what has been done,” Sheldrake said.

The rail projects in particular opened people’s eyes to the value of the RDA as a regional entity helping guide big projects, Kowalsky said.

“Along the way, we have accomplished some remarkable things,” she said.

That includes money for bus services, Marquette Park in Gary, Whiting Lakefront Park, an access road for Gary’s Buffington Harbor, realigning 45th Street in Munster, East Chicago waterfront initiatives, a Lake County convention center study and more.

“We’ve come a long way with both Lake and Porter counties,” Ziller said.

When Ziller became CEO three years ago, she wanted to draft a new strategic plan. The draft to be approved this summer was about 18 months in the making, Communications Director Dave Wellman said.

More than 100 meetings with stakeholders went into developing the document, Wellman said.

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