A state House committee will hold a public meeting on Feb. 18 regarding the proposed Illiana Expressway, which would be a privately built toll road extending from I-65 in Lake County to Illinois.

The Indiana House Roads and Transportation Committee will hold the meeting at the Crown Point High School auditorium, 1500 S. Main St., Crown Point at 7 p.m.

The meeting will concern S.B. 382, which has passed the Indiana Senate and which would authorize a public-private partnership for a new expressway extending from I-65 to the west. The proposal is a scaled-down version of the Illiana that failed in the 2007 session, when the toll road was proposed to go through south Porter County and LaPorte County.

The bill passed the Indiana Senate, but House Democrats have supported a proposal that would require a public input process and an environmental review of the proposed expressway, which would not normally be required for the privatized toll road.

The doors to the hearing will open at 6 p.m. Those wishing to testify before the committee will be asked to sign up, designating that they wish to speak in support of, opposed to, or neutral to the proposed legislation. Testimony is limited to three minutes per person.

Individuals will be called to testify on a rotating basis of support, opposed and neutral until the time allotted is exhausted.

Those wishing to testify may provide written copies of their comments for distribution to the committee. All written comments will be made public on the committee’s website.

The House Roads and Transportation Committee will then reconvene on Feb. 22 at 9 a.m. in the House Chambers for the purpose of discussion, amendments and a vote.