South Shore Double Track, West Lake projects proceeding apace

The South Shore Line’s largest-ever construction projects — Double Track, from Gary to Michigan City, and West Lake, from Hammond to Dyer — are on schedule, the railroad’s governing board learned Monday.

Nicole Barker, the railroad’s director of capital investment and implementation, told the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District board that the main contractor aims to complete track work in the Michigan City part of the Double Track project by the end of November.

The work there has included tearing out the single set of tracks embedded in 10th and 11th streets for more than a century and building two sets of surfacelevel tracks, plus overhead power lines. A new station and five-story parking garage will be built at 11th and Franklin streets, starting next year, by developers of a planned apartment building and commercial space there.

West of Michigan City, Double Track contractors have built new platforms at the Beverly Shores station, a large parking lot south of U.S. 12 for the Portage/Ogden Dunes station, and a new parking lot east of the Miller station, where construction of a new station has begun. Four large new culverts under the tracks west of Michigan City include “shelves” to allow wildlife to cross safely.

Mike Rowe, project manager for the West Lake Corridor, a “design-build” project, said design work is 77 percent complete and construction is 10 percent complete.

Most of the construction work has started in the north part of the project in Hammond, north of Douglas Street. The work includes building elevated tracks to the two-level Gateway station, which will serve the West Lake and traditional South Shore lines.

Also, Rowe said, eight of the 32 South Shore Line cars being rehabilitated at the railroad’s Michigan City shops for the West Lake service have been completed.

The NICTD board Monday approved a nearly $1 million change order for the West Lake project to include more weather shelter for passengers at the Gateway station and separating the traffic and railroad crossing signals at the Ridge Road station in Munster.

The Double Track project is scheduled to finish in 2024 and West Lake in 2025.

Also Monday, Michael Noland, the railroad’s president, said the South Shore Line is seeking engineering proposals for a project to move the railroad’s South Bend station from the east side to the west side of the South Bend airport.

That move would allow quicker travel to and from South Bend by eliminating the need to cross about 20 streets.