The Gary Port Authority and the redevelopment commission may work together to secure a state grant to try and ease congestion caused by dozens of rail crossings in the city.
Port Authority board members voted without opposition on Wednesday, June 20, to have their attorney cooperate with commission staff who are applying for a local TRAX grant from the Indiana Department of Transportation. The grant would help pay for solutions to grade crossings where freight trains cause backups in vehicle traffic.
Allison L. Bergman, an attorney for the Gary Port Authority who previously worked for a port authority in Kansas City, said she is aware of 94 rail crossings in Gary that have the potential for congestion. Among the worst are on Clark Road, which provides access to U.S. Steel Gary Works plant and to the Buffington Harbor facility.
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With some 174 trains and about 450 cars passing through that area on an average day, Bergman there often are traffic backups. Building a bypass that would allow trucks and other vehicles to get around the railroad crossings would cost an estimated $19 million, she said, and commission staff already are applying for the money
Bergman said backing by the port authority strengthens the application because Buffington Harbor would be a beneficiary, convincing state officials all the more of the project’s merits.
Port authority board member William Godwin was eager to get involved.
“We ought to do it; it shows a sense of cooperation,” he said.
The port authority, whose members were only appointed late last year, does not have a budget, and would not be able to contribute financially to any matching funds usually required of government grants. But Godwin said he thinks such projects would strengthen the authority by bringing in revenue, which would make it possible “in a year or two for us to have funds that we could participate in such a match.”
The authority’s board gave Bergman permission to begin negotiating an agreement with the redevelopment commission. Bergman said the authority would be relying on commission staff to handle much of its work, and that the two entities need to work out the terms by which they cooperate with each other.
Godwin said a formal agreement would benefit the port authority.
“It will make sure we have a say in approving whatever we do,” he said.
Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.