Move It
If you grow it or build it in Benton County, Indiana, you can easily move it to market. Benton County has a superior transportation infrastructure for railroad and highway traffic, plus good access to regional and international airports.
We are located midway between Chicago and Indianapolis. Check out our chart of highway miles to market, the transportation statistic that really counts.
Railroad: The Kankakee, Beaverville, and Southern (KB&S, reporting marks KBSR) railroad is an unusual resource for Benton County industries. This class III regional railroad operates 75 miles of former New York Central and Conrail track serving all six incorporated towns in Benton County.
Almost half of the KB&S track network is in Benton County. The railroad's network reaches from Lafayette, Indiana to Kankakee and Danville, Illinois. Traffic is interchanged with national and international railroads including the Canadian National, Norfolk Southern, CSX, and Union Pacific.
The KB&S ships over 7,000 carloads of products originating on their rail network annually. Railroad management is proactively interested in serving industries along their right-of-way and has installed spurs to support new development. With local service and world-class connections, the KB&S provides an industrial-strength transportation link.
Highway: Two major 4-lane US highways cross Benton County, passing through or very close to Boswell, Earl Park, Fowler, Otterbein, and Oxford. US 41 is a north-south route connecting to Chicago, Illinois. US 52 is a northwest-southeast route connecting to Lafayette and Indianapolis, Indiana. These highways join between Fowler and Earl Park. Interstate 65 passes just east of the county and provides another high-speed road link. Benton County is approximately 100 miles from Chicago and 100 miles from Indianapolis.
Local industries and trucking firms take advantage of this central location and good road network to ship products to market.
Airports: Purdue University Airport (LAF) in West Lafayette, Indiana, is less than 20 miles from the southern edge of Benton County. Purdue's airport include a 6,600x150-foot runway capable of serving large aircraft. Over 6,600 flights per year make Purdue the second-busiest airport in Indiana. Purdue has been involved in air and space since the dawn of flight; Amelia Earhart and Neil Armstrong are among the pilots who've called this airport home.
The Kentland Airport is just a few miles north of Earl Park and offers a 3,500x50-foot runway for private planes.
International service is available from Indianapolis International Airport (IND) 92 miles south. Indy is an easy airport to use with convenient parking and a spacious terminal complex that is rarely crowded. Chicago O'Hare (ORD), 128 miles north, is one of the world's busiest and best-connected airports. The Gary-Chicago International Airport (GYY), 85 miles north, is being expanded into Chicago's third major airport.
Miles to Market: Highway miles to market is a measure of the actual road distance from the middle of Benton County to major cities and industrial areas around the midwest. It is a more useful statistic than "as the crow flies" distances reported by some websites. Highway miles to market is the distance a truck needs to travel to reach these important destinations.
| miles | markets |
| 27 | Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN (southeast) |
| 50 | Danville, IL (southwest) |
| 74 | Kokomo, IN (east) |
| 80 | Gary, IN (north) |
| 84 | Champaign-Urbana, IL (southwest) |
| 87 | Terre Haute, IN (south) |
| 93 | Indianapolis, IN (southeast) |
| 111 | Chicago, IL (northwest) |
| 140 | Peoria, IL (west) |
| 140 | Muncie, IN (east) |
| 140 | South Bend, IN (northeast) |
| 142 | Fort Wayne, IN (east) |
| 197 | Evansville, IN (south) |
| 202 | Milwaukee, WI (northwest) |
| 206 | Louisville, KY (southeast) |
| 207 | Dayton, OH (southeast) |
| 208 | Cincinnati, OH (southeast) |
| 223 | Grand Rapids, MI (northeast) |
| 232 | Rock Island-Davenport, IA (west) |
| 245 | Madison, WI (northwest) |
| 262 | Lansing, MI (northeast) |
| 263 | St. Louis, MO (southwest) |
| 291 | Toledo, OH (east) |
| 326 | Detroit, MI (northeast) |
(photo credits from top: Pete Ruesch / Pete Ruesch / Lafayette Avionics / Pete Ruesch)