Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to visit Indianapolis, Gary, Elkhart
WASHINGTON (WISH) — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will visit Gary, Elkhart and Indianapolis on Wednesday and Thursday, his office announced Monday.
In Indianapolis on Thursday, Buttigieg will join U.S. Rep. André Carson, a Democrat from Indianapolis, to visit a Sheet Metal Workers apprenticeship facility at 10:30 a.m. The news release from the Department of Transportation did not say where the facility is located, but the local union has a training center at 2828 E. 45th St., which is located between Allisonville Road and Binford Boulevard on the northeast side.
The release said, “On the tour, they will have the opportunity to see how training facilities in Indiana are keeping up with the growing number of manufacturing jobs made possible by the Biden-Harris Administration.”
At 2 p.m. Thursday, Buttigieg and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, also a Democrat, will visit an undisclosed road project that received $25 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The release said, “The project, which supports local jobs and reconfigures one-way streets, repaves roads, designs better intersections, makes sidewalk improvements, and adds multi-use paths, will create a safer, more cohesive way to connect neighborhoods to downtown.”
Before coming to Indianapolis, the Transportation secretary will stop at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday Central time in Gary and meet with U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, a Democrat who serves the region, and members of the United Steelworkers union. About 45 minutes later, they will meet up with Gary Mayor Jerome Prince, also a Demcoart, and Michael Smith, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Transportation, and others at Gary Chicago International Airport.
The release said, “They will tour projects that are creating jobs and improving the airport’s cargo operations, which support manufacturing and our national supply chains, before hosting a news conference at the airport.”
From Gary, Buttigieg at 3 p.m. Wednesday Eastern time will be in Elkhart to celebrate a $2.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation “to address a long-needed railroad crossing elimination project,” the release said.
Later in Elkhart, the Transportation secretary and former mayor of South Bend will hold a news conference with Elkhart with Democrat Mayor Rob Roberson and community members to learn more about how a local high school is helping with “well-known traffic delays.” The high school was not named.
On Friday, Buttigieg will head to Chicago to hold a news conference at 9:15 a.m. Central time at Chicago O’Hare International Airport to talk about air travel going into Labor Day on Monday.