St. John has been investing great amounts of time, money, and energy into improving many different parts of their community. One specific topic that has become the spotlight of news is the talk of a new train station being built to help commuters from all over Northwest Indiana. St. John has shared their concept of what they plan on having it look like, where it will be built, and how the train station will tie into surrounding communities and businesses.
A new train station plan is great news and truly highlights how well the town and the region have been growing in recent years. This train station will help with commuters aiming to enjoy the easy living that Indiana has to offer while still being able to make it to places like Chicago for work, travel, or family fun without having to worry as much about traffic and other travel cons that are tied to traveling deeper into Chicagoland from NWI.
St. John Train Station Concept
The newly proposed train station location offers a wide area of space to help make use of. The parking lot will be located and built in the corner of the development that will have retail centers right next to it. The train station itself will be of course located right next to the rail line, as seen in the mock up below built by the town committee.
In the last St. John Town Meeting they made a large emphasis on their current focus of making walking/bike trails go throughout the community as new developments are being made. In the train station proposed location, you can see the community to the north of it has a path that goes through it and even connects people directly into the train station location. This is a great example to illustrate the steps that are truly being taken by the town in addressing their plans to get paths built so people can go through the community in a safe manner that doesn’t require a vehicle.
Newly proposed location much better than previous 2005 proposal!
The train station has been a topic since the original 2005 St. John Town Comprehensive plan was announced. Since then, the location of the station has actually moved after much research from the town and their planning committee that is heading the project. The original location which was located just north of the current municipal center was not ideal with having limited access because of the rails location, intersection constraints, and roadway geometries that did not allow for the spot to work in a smooth manner for the town.
With the new location, the land is in a place that allows for more work to be done and space to be used in a way that keeps surrounding communities from having to deal with traffic build ups, congestion of people, and much more. This newly proposed location is definitely seen to have a much more positive aspect to help the town and Northwest Indiana as a whole.
You can learn more about St. John’s current plans by viewing the “2015 Town of St. John Comprehensive Plan” located here.
