Imagine the land inside the southeast side of the interchange of Indiana 49 and U.S. 20 transformed into an arboretum with winding trails, a mound and an amphitheater.
Those are some of the ambitious ideas of Ball State University architectural students, who were guided by Jeremy Merrill, an assistant professor of landscape architecture.
Merrill rolled out the plan via a video feed during the town of Porter’s Plan Commission meeting Wednesday evening.
Sprucing up the interchange, which is just north of the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, was the project for the architectural students who visited Porter and solicited input before issuing their final report.
Councilman James Burge, I-2nd, arranged for the Ball State University architecture department, and its students, to generate ideas for how to enhance the appearance of the major interchange in Porter.
Merrill gave the plan the title “Lakeshore Arboretum.”
Native trees and plants would be planted on the southeast and northeast quadrants of the interchange.
On the south quadrant, there would be an amphitheater.
Toward the middle, there would be a mound and a playground could be located there.
When asked about the sound from passing trucks, Merrill said that his students had considered a sound barrier but settled on the trees acting as a natural way of absorbing the noise.
Another potential idea would be to build a pedestrian bridge from the Visitor Center across the ramp access road.
The design of the bridge, proposed by the students, would have steel sawgrass-like sculptures on the span. There was also an idea of having steel slabs, signed by steelworkers, installed near the span as a tribute to the region’s steelmaking legacy.
Merrill said that an alternative option would be to put a used span — the Indiana Department of Transportation has some — over the access road.
On the northeast side of the interchange, there would also be paths. The students also proposed the idea of creating a tree-lined median for the access road where people now cross to continue north on the Dunes-Kankakee Trail. The idea is to naturally slow down vehicles and allow a better opportunity for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross.
Those in the audience were complimentary of the plan’s aesthetic ideas, but there were questions.
One person asked: “What kind of challenges do you think there would be with INDOT?
Merrill acknowledged that the tree-lined median on an access road might pose a challenge.
Another question raised was what could be done about the placement of a police radio tower, which also is used by a couple of local radio stations.
An audience member asked about parking. Merrill answered that there was enough available with the Visitor Center.
Plan Commission member Rob Albrecht-Mallinger was complimentary of the plan’s creativity, but said he had to bring up the “c” word: cost.
Merrill said that he would have to consult with others in his department to come up with some figures.
The Plan Commission agreed there would be further discussions.
Other topics of discussion might be a landscape proposal for Lincoln Street, which is Porter’s downtown.
Merrill briefly showed a slide of the downtown, along with a sketch of how Porter Beach would look with a new building in place of the condemned Johnson Inn.
Michael Barry, Porter’s development director and building commissioner, said that using the resources from a university has been productive for the town in the past.
For instance, Purdue University students produced a study that had proposals for how the town of Porter could improve its trail connection to Porter Beach.
Using that study as a basis, Barry said the town, in conjunction with the Indiana Dunes National Park, was able to obtain a $750,000 Federal Lands Access Program grant in 2022.
Additionally, the firm Butler, Fairman & Seufert was awarded a contract to examine the design of the Waverly Road and Wabash Avenue corridor to improve access to Porter Beach. The design would include the surrounding streets, pedestrian access improvements, roadside safety improvements, U.S. 12 and Waverly Road intersection improvements and roadway drainage.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
