VALPARAISO | Porter County Commissioner John Evans has filed suit accusing the state and the town of Chesterton of contributing to the death of his mother-in-law by failing to properly design the intersection at Ind. 49 and the entrance to the Indiana Toll Road.

The suit, which seeks an unspecified amount of money, claims the state and town did not properly place the signal controlling southbound traffic turning left or east on to Gateway Boulevard.

The town and state should have known about the dangerous situation because there had been numerous vehicle crashes at the intersection, the suit claims.

Evan's mother-in-law, Virginia Wehner, of Portage, was killed Oct. 23, 2007, when the southbound vehicle she was in turned left at the intersection in question against a red light and was struck by a northbound motorist who had the green light.

Chesterton Police Chief George Nelson said at the time that the intersection was the site of 16 crashes in the past year, five of which involved injuries.

Evans filed the suit along with Belinda Petroskey. The pair serve as co-administrators of Wehner's estate to collect damages for what they say is a wrongful death.

The suit was filed on behalf of the two by attorney Harold Harper, son of Evans' fellow county commissioner, Bob Harper.

Harold Harper said the most the suit can win is $300,000 because Wehner was unmarried and did not have dependant children. The family will be the beneficiary of any money.