Please join us in writing to decision-makers to save the Briar East Woods in Hessville, Hammond, IN.

In our ongoing letter campaign, we will be writing letters to our local, state, and federal representatives, conservation groups, naturalist organizations, local and federal Departments of Transportation, and more key decision-makers who we believe can have a big impact on what happens to our ancient dune woodland. And we need YOU to write with us!

Subject Line: Stop the Governor’s Parkway Project in Hammond, Indiana

[ Your name ]

[ Your address ]

[ Your city, state, zip code ]

[ Insert date ]

Dear [ Fill in name ],

I urge you to investigate and halt the Governor’s Parkway Overpass project in Hammond, Indiana. This project, funded by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), fails to serve its intended purpose of providing safe passage over the railroad tracks on Grand Avenue, and simultaneously destroys a 32-acre ancient dune woodland known as the Briar East Woods.

The Governor's Parkway Overpass project is a one-mile walk away from the crossing on Grand Avenue where children have been recorded climbing under stalled trains as they walk to school. The design of the Governor's Parkway overpass does nothing for this urgent public safety crisis. The overpass does not provide safe passage for children over the tracks, as they will have to walk up to two miles out of their way from schools on Grand Avenue to utilize it every day.

While failing to serve its intended purpose, the Governor's Parkway overpass will also destroy the 4,700-year-old Briar East Woods, an established sand dune ecosystem located at 169th Street and Parrish Avenue. It is home to a plethora of wildlife including barred owls, red-tailed hawks, red tailed foxes, deer, bald eagles, reptiles, amphibians, pollinators/insects, and native sand dune flora. Each year, it provides billions of gallons in flooding protection to the Hessville neighborhood and city of Hammond at large. It also mitigates noise and air pollution, and provides residents a natural place of respite and leisure -- rare in our heavily developed city.

Among those studied by INDOT, the Governor's Parkway overpass is the most expensive alternative to addressing the train problem in Hessville, estimated at $11,670,000 (2019) plus a $7.7 million supplemental pedestrian bridge, bringing the total to at least $19,370,000.

Alternatives exist to address train delays, protect children's safety, and retain the geological and natural treasure that is the Briar East Woods. The Hammond Common Council, FRA, and INDOT must consider an alternative overpass or underpass that is located on Grand Avenue. The Governor's Parkway overpass is one mile west of Grand Avenue where the problem crossing is located. In 2019, an overpass on Grand was estimated to cost $8,480,000.

There are less expensive, more effective, more sustainable solutions to the train problem in Hessville that genuinely provide safe passage over the tracks and also retain the irreplaceable ancient dune woodland.

At their regular meeting on February 17th, the Hammond Common Council passed a resolution to express support for the Governor’s Parkway project. Before the meeting, Mayor Thomas McDermott packed the council chambers to capacity to hold a "meeting for bridge supporters." This 4:30pm meeting was not advertised to the public, and was attended mostly or entirely by city employees. By the time people showed up to the Common Council meeting at 6:00pm, no member of the public could enter the council chambers to view or participate in the meeting in-person, as the chambers remained at capacity.

Over 100 people who came to city hall to express support for the Briar East Woods and against the Governor's Parkway resolution were relegated to a small conference room downstairs, and as the crowd rolled in, eventually sprawled throughout the hallway downstairs, outside the chambers, and outside city hall, watching the meeting on their phones and barred from participating until the city employees cleared the chambers for public expression nearly two hours later.

The Mayor may have reported on the passage of this recent resolution to state and federal funders. He is using the resolution, as well as the large crowd he invited to the chambers that night, as proof that the public supports the project. All the while, over 100 civilians against the Governor's Parkway overpass, were locked out of the council chambers in a strategic power play to suppress free speech and democracy.

Please investigate the Governor's Parkway overpass project and consider any means possible to stop it in favor of a solution on Grand Avenue. We are fighting for sustainable infrastructure solutions and against irresponsible government spending. If any project is worth scrutiny, it is this one. You can learn more at our website, savebriareastwoods.com.

Thank you for taking action to help our community.

Sincerely,

[ Your name ]

Contact List:                                                                                                                                                .

Federal Highway Administration

INDOT

Crawford, Murphy, and Tilly

Read below to learn more about how to send your letter in. To find out more about Briar East Woods, scroll down to page 3.

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How to Participate

If this cause resonates with you, please join our letter writing campaign this week! Sending a letter is easy - follow the steps below.

You can either sign a pre-written letter using our template, or write your own letter.

Option 1: Sign a letter

  1. Click here to download our letter template. Feel free to make edits.
  2. Replace the highlighted portions with your name and information.
  3. Save the file.
  4. Upload your signed letter here.
  5. That’s it! We’ll send your letter to everyone on our list of decision-makers.*

Option 2: Write your own letter

  1. Click here to download a blank letter template.
  2. Write your letter!
  3. Save the file.
  4. Upload your signed letter here.
  5. That’s it! We’ll send your letter to everyone on our list of decision-makers.*

Option 3: Follow-Up to Responses

Many decision-makers have now responded to our initial letters. It is important to make sure these responses don’t just sit in our laps, giving the impression that the conversation is finished. Send a follow-up letter today! We need to continue putting pressure on key decision-makers and keep the ball rolling.

  1. Click here to download a follow-up letter template (File > Download > Microsoft Word). This template is as general as possible - we encourage you to add additional content, pertaining to the response you received.
  2. At the top of your letter, include the list of names to send your letter to from our list of decision-makers or leave blank to send to everyone.
  3. Replace the highlighted portions with your name and information.
  4. Save the file.
  5. Upload your signed letter here.
  6. That’s it! We’ll send your letter to everyone on your list.

*You can send out your own letters, too.

If you prefer to write only to individual people on our list, or just want to send your letter out yourself, simply skip Step 5 of uploading your signed letter to our submission box. You can view our contact list and send your letters to anyone or everyone you would like, and beyond!

Letters can be sent as a hard copy, via email, or in the case of many government officials, through an online contact form. All available contact information is listed here.

We encourage you to send your letters through as many avenues as you can, to as many people as you can, and to continue letter writing even after our campaign has ended!

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About the Briar East Woods

The Briar East Woods is a 34-acre dune woodland in the heart of the Hessville neighborhood in Hammond, Indiana. These woods are the last unprotected remnant of the High Tolleston Dunes, an ancient shoreline of Lake Michigan.

Formed 4,700 years ago, this wooded area is a geological marvel. It is an example of a true sand ridge and swale landscape. It provides habitat for tens of thousands of migrating birds each year, a nesting site for owls and red-tailed hawks, and a home for amphibians and reptiles such as frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, and salamanders. It boasts thousands of trees, many over 100 years old, and offers an ideal environment for learning about the natural world.

The Briar East Woods also absorb noise from the surrounding expressways and mitigate flooding by absorbing over 900,000 gallons of water in a one-inch rain. This natural area gives local residents a quiet respite from the hustle-and-bustle, a beloved place to hike, bike, and explore.

The Briar East Woods are under threat of destruction due to the planned Governors Parkway bridge project and supplementary pedestrian bridge. This project, a collaboration between the city of Hammond and the Indiana Department of Transportation INDOT) will clear-cut 18 acres of forest to make way for a new bridge.

The bridge’s stated purpose is to alleviate the nuisance of stalled freight trains at the Grand Avenue crossing for both cars and pedestrians, primarily school children walking to and from three schools on Grand Avenue. However, the design is west of Grand, rerouting children up to two miles out of their way from these schools, failing to alleviate the safety issue while demolishing an ancient dune woodland.

Our group, the Hessville Dune Dusters, has been fighting to save the Briar East Woods for four years. We advocate for a solution at Grand Avenue (overpass or underpass) instead of the Governors Parkway bridge, which will keep the Briar East Woods intact and keep our children safe. INDOT is currently conducting an ecological study of the woods and preparing an analysis of an underpass alternative at Grand Avenue, the results of which may be released any day now.

We need your help to bring this issue to the attention of our representatives and top decision-makers. We want to tell them that the Briar East Woods must be saved and the best way to do that is with a solution at Grand Avenue. 

Once these woods are gone, they’re gone forever.  Sign your name on a letter or write your own using the instructions above on How to Participate!

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Thank you for participating in our letter writing campaign! Your voice is crucial to saving these woods.

For more information about the proposed infrastructure project, Briar East Woods, and what else you can do to help, please visit our Linktree or reach out to us on Facebook.

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