City engineers concede a two-mile stretch of South Bend road needs to be fixed, but money stands in the way.
Nikki from South Bend has a Good Question: “Will Bendix Road between Lincolnway West and Portage ever be repaved?”
There is repaving happening on parts of Bendix Drive in South Bend this summer. City engineer Carl Littrell describes the work as being done on the worst spots, but not the entire road. Money and trains stand in the way of a full-fledged road rebuilding.
Littrell says to rebuild the entire two-mile stretch of Bendix from Lincolnway to Portage could cost up to $11 million. That money could come through a combination of federal funding and possibly tax increment financing or TIF money.
Some in the city will push for tax increment finance money since they see that part of the city as a potential place for future economic development. But that could be a controversial argument, some on the City Council are skeptical about how the city spends TIF money.
But a decision on if the money can be found and when is likely a year away. The city is waiting to see if the South Shore will be rerouted to make the trip to Chicago shorter. That would likely impact road construction plans on Bendix.
