Federal grant to boost Munster's Ridge Road vision

The town’s goal of making a busy stretch of Ridge Road safer for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists is a step closer to reality after announcement of a $17.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The RAISE grant — for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity — will be applied to a project along 1.3 miles of Ridge Road that will reduce it from five traffic lanes to three, add a 10-foot-wide multi-use path on the south side of the street, plant more than 250 trees, and install amenities including landscaping, gateway and wayfinding signage, and pedestrian seating.

“This award will allow the town to implement our community-driven vision for a more human-focused built environment,” said Town Manager Dustin Anderson in a statement from U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan’s office announcing the grant. “With that opportunity will come more pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, additional street trees, improved stormwater management, and more flexibility for our local businesses to operate.”

Ridge Road from the state line to Columbia Avenue saw more than 600 crashes from 2016 to 2020, according to the DOT grant announcement.

“I thank our local partners in Munster for their leadership on this project that incorporates sustainable measures to reinvest in the Ridge Road corridor, which will improve transportation, attract new businesses, and enhance recreational activities,” said Mrvan, a Democrat from Highland. “Because of their successful utilization of this federal resource, we will create more good-paying jobs and a better quality of life for everyone in Northwest Indiana.”

The competitive RAISE grants are more than double the amount awarded the previous year, with the extra funding a result of the infrastructure bill enacted earlier this year.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg officially announced the grants, totaling $2.2 billion across the country, at an event in Phoenix on Thursday.

“This is a program that recognizes many of the most interesting and compelling ideas and designs and plans aren’t going to come from Washington, but more of the funding should,” Buttigieg said. “That’s what we’re delivering here.”

One other project in Indiana was included in this round — a $2.4 million grant to South Bend for preliminary engineering work to alleviate “the physical transportation barrier” created by freeway ramps from Ind. 23 and by the St. Joseph River.