The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority on Tuesday approved spending almost $6.5 million on Marquette Greenway projects in Whiting and East Chicago.

The $2.56 million appropriated for Whiting will be part of a $4.9 million funding package that will pay for running gas, electric and other infrastructure to the Lakefront Park.

It also will fund a five-mile bike trail, linking with trails coming out of Hammond and further planning work.

"Today, they gave us the green light," said Brian Lowry, Whiting director of community development. "This is the go-ahead."

The RDA had its regular monthly meeting at the Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana, in Merrillville.

Whiting is the last of the four primary lakefront communities in Lake and Porter counties to get direct RDA funding for its lakefront plans.

The RDA also approved $3.9 million for East Chicago's plan to create a gateway to the lakefront from the Indiana Harbor neighborhood. The money will be used to acquire and prepare a total of 32 acres of land located on both sides of Cline Avenue for development.

Once that is done, the city wants to build an overpass for cars and pedestrians across the eight lanes of Cline Avenue and the railroad tracks that currently separate neighborhoods from the lake, according to John Artis, East Chicago executive director of housing and redevelopment.

"We think these preparations we are talking about, like the city of Whiting, will allow us to move forward much more quickly," Artis said.

The city's redevelopment commission last week approved using $3 million in taxes collected from Resorts East Chicago for its North Harbor development project. It is spending millions of dollars more on park and street improvements in the area, as well as new housing developments.

The city will come back to the RDA with a separate request to fund demolition of the city's water filtration plant.