The Marquette Plan is a representation of five cities, Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago, Gary and Portage and the Office of Cong coming together to create a vision and redevelop 20 miles of shoreline extending from the Illinois State Line to the Burns Harbor International Port in Portage, Indiana. The Vision includes recapturing 75% of the Lake Michigan lakeshore for public use, establishing a minimum setback of 200 feet from the water’s edge for future development activity, and creating a continuous trail network throughout northwest Indian for public access. Due to the funding provided by the Michigan Coastal Program of the Indiana Department of National Resources and Porter and Lake Counties, the NIRPC was able to begin the Phase II of the Marquette Plan. Initial tasks included interviews with major stakeholders, public outreach meetings with large- scale events to gain citizen input and mapping of the Environmental assets and land uses in the area. The Plan has successfully merged public, private and citizens interests and the shoreline areas are receiving significant investment to realize the vision.

Website: http://www.nirpc.org/economic%20development/MarquettePlan/MP2PCTP.htm