The new comprehensive plan being drafted for Portage is likely to include seeking roundabouts and public transit after a public input session Thursday.
A $15 million bond issue for the city’s Redevelopment Commission includes a roundabout at the intersection of Samuelson Road and Central Avenue, where traffic is often backed up.
As the city grows, roundabouts are seen as a way to improve traffic flow throughout the city, replacing stoplights.
Mayor Austin Bonta offered his thoughts Thursday after hearing small groups convened at the Woodland Park public input session urge the city to pursue public transportation.
“That’s actually a really important thing, is getting to the grocery store and getting your medication,” he said. Residents, especially senior citizens, shouldn’t have to choose between food and medicine, he said.
“We have to figure out public transportation,” he said.
Among the options would be getting Gary Public Transportation Corp. to expand its service across the county line to bring others to Portage and Portage residents across the county line as well as to stops in Portage itself.
Another would be for Valparaiso to expand its intercity V-Line bus service to South Haven and for Portage to have its own bus line connect with V-Line transfers in South Haven.
“We’re not there yet. There’s a lot more to be talked about that we cannot do,” Bonta said, but the city must continue the conversation.
It’s important to make public transportation work. “We can’t be just a personal car-dependent city,” he said.
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Portage is home to the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, which technically owns the GPTC and V-Line buses and obtains federal grants for public transit. The Portage Redevelopment Commission owns the building NIRPC rents on Portage’s north side.
Among other suggestions for the city’s master plan are improved landscaping, bringing trees along U.S. 6 and downtown; bike lanes; a way for pedestrians to safely cross Central Avenue in the downtown area; connecting Main Street downtown with Evergreen Avenue; senior housing downtown; affordable housing for young people; expansion of the city’s marina; family entertainment options, especially along U.S. 6; and more attention to entrances to the city, including welcome signs.
Consultant Taghi Arshami, of The Arsh Group, is among the consultants working on the city’s comprehensive plan, the first since 2009. He discussed results of a community survey that drew about 1,600 responses.
For a national survey, 1,500 responses is considered good, so for Portage’s size, 1,600 is very good, Bonta said.
The most important issues for residents were crime and safety, at 72%, followed by street conditions and maintenance, at 69%, Arshami said.
Almost everyone wants the new downtown to be developed as a mixed-use social center with cultural and civic activities. Half want to expand pedestrian links connecting to trails.
Nearly all respondents, 96%, want to balance new housing developments with preservation of open space and expansion of recreational opportunities. Nine out of 10 want to encourage parks and recreational facilities in new subdivisions and developments.
For 45%, availability of senior or youth centers and daycare facilities is important.
Scott Falk, regional manager for Wightman, is a longtime Portage resident as well as a consultant for the city. “Don’t worry if you think it’s a weird idea. We need to hear all ideas,” he said.
Anyone interested in the comprehensive plan can visit klissell.wixsite.com/community-engagement to offer input and keep up to date on the process.
Another public input session is planned for November. Residents will have a chance to view a draft of the final plan and offer comments when it goes before the Plan Commission and City Council for approval next year.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.