Former South Bend Mayor and Indiana Governor Joe Kernan will serve as a consultant for a proposed intermodal rail yard in Laporte County.

An intermodal yard is an area where multiple types of transportation meet. With respect to Laporte County, semi-trailer filled trains would stop and be emptied and sent across the region.

It's not the first time Kernan has pushed for an intermodal project.

When Kernan was South Bend's mayor he and former Congressman Tim Roemer appeared before a US House subcommittee about a project for South Bend.

Although that intermodal project did not involve transferring freight, it involved the transfer of people.

Kernan and Roemer sought millions of dollars to build a combined Amtrak and Transpo facility, however, funding eventually came through for the Transpo portion of the project.

The Laporte County project has been talked about for years and Kernan is working with Cressy and Everett, which has options to buy land in union mills.

Supporters have said it could bring thousands of jobs to the area.

“In addition to that transfer of freight, you develop warehouses, distribution centers, processing and manufacturing centers,” said Laporte Mayor Leigh Morris.

Moreover, supporters said property taxes from all of those businesses could lower taxes for the rest of the county.