Hopes are high that 119 projects costing $44.4 million on a three-county stimulus request list will create jobs and spur development across Northwest Indiana in the next two years.
"What it does is it puts people to work and strengthens our infrastructure," Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas said Thursday. "And when you invest in infrastructure, it encourages businesses to invest."
MORE:Download the list of region stimulus transportation projects.
The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission executive board, which Costas leads, gave initial approval to the stimulus list Thursday. It now faces a 30-day public comment period.
An original wish list of more than $900 million in projects was whittled down to the final request list during weeks of meetings between local officials. The region has at least $42.1 million in transportation stimulus funds coming, local officials have said.
For Valparaiso, requests on the list will fund $1.4 million in repaving for major traffic arteries and $410,000 in other projects.
In Hammond, the doomed bus system could live another year thanks to $899,106 in requested stimulus funds. Hammond had planned to end its bus service at the end of June because of city budget shortfalls.
"It's not a complete solution, but it buys us time," said Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority Executive Director Tim Brown.
The South Shore commuter rail service came up the biggest single winner, with an application for $12.37 million in stimulus funds for signal and power system upgrades. That total is coming from two separate pots of stimulus money, one for mass transit and one for rail modernization.
On Thursday, NIRPC officials said they had no firm estimate of how many jobs will be created by the projects. Overall, the stimulus package will create 75,000 jobs in Indiana, according to Obama administration estimates.
Despite the enthusiasm with which NIRPC members approved the list Thursday, some said even more can be done.
Lake County Surveyor George Van Til said NIRPC should move on to securing stimulus money for non-transportation projects.
"If NIRPC doesn't get it together, we'll leave a lot of money on the table," Van Til said.
After the 30-day public comment period, the NIRPC executive board must approve the list a second time for submission to the Indiana Department of Transportation.
