By KELLY HAWES

Pharos-Tribune managing editor

INDIANAPOLIS — Representatives of the coalition supporting the Hoosier Heartland Industrial Corridor say they were pleased with progress outlined in a meeting last week with representatives of the Indiana Department of Transportation.

State Sen. Tom Weatherwax said the $400 million project had moved from “bridges to nowhere” to real progress.

“It might not be visible to residents as they drive along State Road 25,” he said in a news release issued by the coalition, “but the last two years have been very busy ones for the INDOT staff and road designers who are working on this roadway. Millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours have been spent getting this project closer to its 2010 construction start.”

Some of the preconstruction activities outlined by Transportation Commissioner Karl B. Browning and the Hoosier Heartland project team include:

• Road design plans are between 30 percent and 50 percent complete in all four of the Hoosier Heartland segments.

• INDOT is coordinating with all utility companies whose facilities will be impacted by the construction of the new roadway.

• The process for obtaining environmental and water permits is under way.

• An advisory committee is looking at historic and cultural areas throughout the corridor to ensure compliance with state and federal historic preservation laws.

• The phases of construction are being finalized, with work set to begin in 2010 and end in 2014.

• Public outreach activities are continuing, including newsletters, project updates and a new Hoosier Heartland Corridor Web site.

The coalition said INDOT representatives would provide a more detailed progress report at the coalition’s annual meeting Sept. 21 in Logansport.

INDOT has also scheduled public information meetings in Lafayette, Delphi and Walton.

Logansport Mayor Michael Fincher and Delphi Mayor Lee Hoard also attended the meeting. Fincher said in the news release that the coalition’s bi-partisan leadership had been working in a “statesmanlike manner” with the department of transportation, the legislature and Gov. Mitch Daniels to get the project under way.

“The benefits to Logansport and Cass County are significant,” he said. “The highway project is already creating economic development opportunities and a sense of hope about our community’s future.”

Hoard said the project would help business and industry in addition to creating a safer highway for all residents. He said Delphi and Carroll County were busy preparing new land use and transportation plans to provide for “orderly and planned growth.”

“Providing necessary sewer, water, and drainage for growth areas along the corridor is crucial to maintain the high quality of life which we enjoy,” he said.

The segment begins just east of Interstate 65 in Lafayette and extends about 35 miles to Logansport. This link will connect interstates 65 and 69, providing a continuous multi-lane highway from Lafayette to Fort Wayne.

When finished, the four-lane divided highway will span a distance of about 200 miles. This project will complete the 99-mile Hoosier Heartland Highway from Lafayette to Fort Wayne.

Kelly Hawes can be reached at (574) 722-5000, ext. 5155, or kelly.hawes@pharostribune.com



Want to go?

What: 25th annual meeting of the Hoosier Heartland Industrial Corridor.

When: 11:30 a.m. Sept. 21.

Where: Ramada Inn, 3550 E. Market St.

Tickets: $15. Reservations, due by Friday, may be calling Teresa at (574) 753-6388.



Public information meetings:

• 6-9 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Faith Community Center in Lafayette.

• 6-9 p.m. Sept. 26 at Delphi High School.

• 6-9 p.m. Sept. 27 at Lewis-Cass High School in Walton.

More information: www.in.gov/dot/projects/sr25study/



Timeline

1970s — Planning begins on the Hoosier Heartland Industrial Corridor, which will connect Lafayette to Fort Wayne through new routes of Indiana 25 and U.S. 24.

1982 — Overview developed of the Heartland Highway Corridor from Toledo, Ohio, to Lafayette.

1982 — Jack Porter and Glenn Tanner founded the Hoosier Heartland Industrial Corridor Inc., a nonprofit corporation dedicated to promoting the highway, and the organization began advocating that state and federal officials allocate funding toward the project.

1987 — The Indiana General Assembly enacts a bill instructing INDOT to undertake a feasibility study for a multi-lane highway between Lafayette and Fort Wayne.

Fall 1991 — Federal High Priority Corridor status and designated Corridor 4.

June 5, 1998 — Two bridges forming a part of the Hoosier Heartland Highway over the Wabash River in Cass County are named for Porter and Tanner. They had originally been known as “bridges to nowhere,” because at the time of being erected they only connected to farm fields.

Nov. 3, 1999 — Gov. Frank O’Bannon officially opens an 8-mile segment of a new U.S. 24 between Logansport and Peru.

Nov. 24, 1999 — The U.S. Federal Highway Administration publishes a notice of intent in the Federal Register stating that an environmental impact statement will be prepared for the final segment of the highway from Lafayette to Logansport.

Sept. 12, 2000 — A safety audit of the existing Indiana 25 from Lafayette to Logansport records that 1,094 traffic accidents were reported between 1995 and 1998.

Oct. 18, 2000 — The Tippecanoe County Area Plan Commission approves a proposed route for the Hoosier Heartland Corridor that involves a high level of grade separation. The Tippecanoe County Commissioners and Lafayette-West Lafayette Chamber of Commerce also endorse it.

Oct. 19, 2000 — In Huntington, O’Bannon opens the final part of the 66-mile stretch of the new U.S. 24 between Logansport and Fort Wayne.

Jan. 22, 2000 — The Carroll County Board of Commissioners unanimously supports a route for the section of the Hoosier Heartland running through the county. It closely follows the route INDOT in 2003 deems as “preferred.”

Summer 2002 — Heartland Highway project receives a letter from Region 5 EPA stating that the agency has no objections to the project.

August 2002 — The U.S. Federal Highway Administration and INDOT approve a draft version of the environmental impact statement with several alternatives for the route between Lafayette and Logansport still under consideration.

October 2002 — Public meetings take place in Tippecanoe, Carroll and Cass counties to inform the public of the findings of the draft environmental impact statement.

Jan. 23, 2003 — O’Bannon comes to Lafayette to announce the “preferred” route for the section of Ind. 25 connecting Lafayette to Logansport.

November 2004 — INDOT releases a final environmental impact statement, which approves the preferred route.

Jan. 11, 2005 — Record of decision is signed by Federal Highway Administration and INDOT.

2006 — Engineering of the four segments from Lafayette to Logansport begins.