NW Ind. residents hear about proposed expressway

CEDAR LAKE, Ind. (AP) -  More than 100 northwestern Indiana property owners with homes and businesses in the path of the proposed Illiana Expressway have met with state highway officials to discuss the project.

Illiana corridor project manager James Earl told property owners at Monday's restive meeting in the Lake County town of Cedar Lake that he knows they have a lot of concerns about the project that would link Interstate 65 in northwestern Indiana and Interstate 55 in Illinois.

The Times of Munster reports that Monday's meeting followed three landowner meetings held last week in Illinois.

Earl says the earliest offers for property in either state probably won't happen until summer 2014. He says that first the public will weigh in on the highway's proposed path in a series of hearings.