The Cline Avenue Coalition of mayors has reached a consensus that a new bridge should be built to replace the condemned span over the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal at the current location -- as quickly as possible.
"The major reason why we say it should be built there is the right of way already exists," said Whiting Mayor Joseph Stahura. "If you try to do something creative, you will need a new right of way and that could take five years. We need to get off the ball now."
As of late Monday afternoon, not all members of the Cline Avenue Coalition, which also includes casinos, steelmakers and other organizations, had signed on to the recommendation, according to Christopher Murphy, a consultant to the four mayors who represents them at coalition meetings.
Some changes had been made in the document to please some members after a coalition meeting Thursday, Murphy said. But he was not sure if all 20-plus members would sign on in the end.
"The mayors' position all along has been to re-establish that link as quickly as possible," Murphy said.
The 1.25-mile Cline Avenue bridge was first closed Nov. 13, when an engineering firm inspecting the bridge informed the state it could no longer safely support heavy trucks. On Dec. 28, the Indiana Department of Transportation informed community leaders the bridge would remain permanently closed and be demolished.
The Cline Avenue Coalition was formed so the region could present a unified plan to INDOT, which will make the ultimate decision on what is done to replace the bridge.
At a public hearing Feb. 9 at East Chicago Central High School, INDOT Chief of Staff Bob Zier said his agency wanted to have all comments collected by the end of February and present some plans for replacing the span by early summer.
Cline Avenue Coalition meetings were not open to the public or media, with reporters barred from one such meeting two weeks ago at Ameristar Casino.
Drawing up long-term plans for handling the 30,000-plus vehicles per day that used the bridge has stirred tension between the immediate needs of the cities and their businesses and the vision of the Marquette Greenways Plan.
The plan aims to improve public access to the lakeshore and replace vanishing industries with new development. Zier has said some community leaders have suggested "nonbridge" options that might be more in line with the Marquette Plan.
Some coalition members said the Marquette Plan lost out even before the coalition approached a final consensus.
"At first they said they would rebuild Cline Avenue but they would incorporate the Marquette Plan," said Sandy O'Brien, who represented the Save the Dunes Council, an environmental advocacy group, at coalition meetings. "They seem to have changed their minds."
Stahura said Whiting's piece of the Marquette Plan, a $40 million upgrade of Lakefront Park, always envisioned an up-and-running Cline Avenue where it is now. Access to the rehabilitated park was planned around Cline Avenue, he said.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said all he has to do is look out the windows of City Hall to know something has to be done as quickly as possible to get the Cline Avenue bridge in operation again. Tanker trucks and 18-wheelers carrying steel coils now regularly use Calumet Avenue, passing in front of City Hall and Hammond High School, McDermott said.
"All we need is a student or kid to get hit and killed by one of those, and it's game over," he said.