Legislation favoring the Illiana Expressway has moved through Indiana's House Roads and Transportation Committee. The Senate bill (SB382) has already sailed through the Senate. But there still are no assurances of its passage by the House.

Monday, by a 10 to 2 vote, the House committee authorized a privatize Illiana Expressway that is slated to connect I-65 in Indiana to I-57 and even I-55 in Illinois. An amended version has been sent to the Indiana House where additional changes are likely.

If the House approves the bill, it will then go to a conference committee to reconcile the House and Senate versions. To pass a final bill this session, it will have to be accomplished before March 14 when the Indiana General Assembly is schedule to adjourn.

Prior to the vote, legislators held public hearings in Indianapolis and in Crown Point where several hundreds of people showed up to voice concerns and offer support for the project.

Earlier this month, the legislation for the project caused a near war in the Indiana legislature. When State Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, an Illiana supporter, voted with House Republicans, and against his own party's chairman, House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, to kill the bill, Bauer stripped Dobis of his leadership position. Dobis, who has been a legislator since 1970, had been the House Speaker pro-tempore, the second highest position.

Dobis' vote killed the legislation, by forcing a tie of 79 to 79. He voted against the bill because it would have required a memorandum of understanding by each community along the route, and an environmental study. State Rep. Terri Austin, D-Anderson who introduced the legislation, said the bill was the right thing to do to protect local governments that would lose tax money because of the project.

Supporters of the Illiana Expressway in Illinois are anxiously watching what happens with the bill. There has been no movement in Illinois, except that Gov. Patrick Quinn vowed to build the highway. He said doing so would be his legacy.

Beecher Village Administrator Bob Barber said his village supports the project.

When the Illiana was first considered, its purpose was to alleviate traffic on the Borman Expressway. That would translate into cutting the number of trucks that travel through Beecher on their way south. The Illiana was expected to offer an alternative route. Yet no final route has been chosen at this time.

The final route could be between Beecher and Crete or between Beecher and Grant Park or even further south. If that were the case, trucks would still travel through Beecher to get to the Illiana. But, Barber said in that case, the village would push hard for a bypass around Beecher. He said the initial engineering work was done for a bypass several years ago. There has been no progress since that time.

Both projects are favored and are part of Beecher's comprehensive plan.